White House: Trump still under IRS audit

President Donald Trump's tax returns are still under audit, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday.

Protesters across the country marched over the weekend to push Trump to release his taxes as Tax Day approaches. Trump acknowledged the protests with a tweet Sunday, hinting that what he dismissed as “small organized rallies” were paid to occur.


Spicer told reporters Monday that Trump would not be releasing his 2016 returns because he is still under audit.

“I think it’s been covered before. It’s the same thing that was discussed during the campaign trail,” Spicer said. “The president is under audit. It’s a routine one. It continues. And I think that the American public know clearly where he stands. This was something that he made very clear during the election cycle.”

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Trump broke decades of precedent by refusing to disclose his tax returns, citing an ongoing audit. According to the IRS, however, an audit wouldn’t bar a taxpayer from releasing his or her tax returns.

Spicer, nevertheless, suggested that the American people understand how successful Trump has been and how much he’s paid in taxes, based on documents that have leaked in the past year.

“We’re under the same audit that existed, and so nothing has changed,” Spicer said. “I think the president’s view on this has been very clear from the campaign, and the American people understood it when they elected him in November.”

Pressed on whether it’s time to say once and for all that Trump will never make his tax returns public, Spicer wouldn’t say. “We’ll have to get back to you on that,” he said. “He is still under audit. The statement still stands.”