Paul Manafort said he believes Donald Trump that there's nothing compromising in his tax returns. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Manafort: 'No reason' for Trump to change Senior Trump aide also insists he 'can't tell who it is' on the 'Miller' tape

Donald Trump doesn’t need to change his rhetoric or tone to win in a general election, his senior adviser said Sunday morning.

Trump already appeals to a broad electorate, drawing crossover Democrats and independents, Paul Manafort told CNN’s Jake Tapper. Manafort said House Speaker Paul Ryan, in his meeting with Trump last week, did not pressure the presumptive Republican nominee to act more presidential.


“There’s no reason for Donald Trump to change,” Manafort said.

Manafort also tried to downplay assorted controversies hounding Trump over the past week.

On Trump’s break with the long-standing tradition of presumptive nominees releasing their tax returns, Manafort said Trump intends to but has to finish an audit of eight years of returns.

“He has said he will release them, and he’s never changed his position,” Manafort said. “This is an issue the media is interested in. It’s not an issue Middle America is interested in.”

On Friday, Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos his tax rate is “none of your business.”

Manafort said he believes Trump when the candidate says there’s nothing compromising in his tax returns.

He also expressed faith in his candidate’s denial that he posed as his own publicist in the 1990s. After Tapper played the tape of an interview with “John Miller,” Manafort said, “I could barely understand it. I can’t tell who it is. He says it’s not him; I believe him.”

Manafort also responded to concerns about his consulting work for foreign leaders, saying he doesn’t see any classified briefings given to Trump.