In a Tuesday evening broadcast, MSNBC broke the details of President Donald Trump's 2005 tax returns, obtained by investigative journalist and fierce Trump critic David Cay Johnson.
The IRS 1040 form obtained by the reporter is the main document Americans file with the federal tax collection agency, and includes headline figures for deductions, credits, income and investments.
The two-page form does not show the origin of income, the details of investments or the full nature of deductions.
In a statement, the White House said that in 2005 Mr Trump paid $38 million in tax after declaring an income of roughly $150 million, an effective rate of roughly 25 per cent.
After MSNBC host Rachel Maddow tweeted about the story, but before the MSNBC broadcast, the administration issued a strong response to the leaked documents.
“You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago,” the statement read.
The White House said that Mr Trump – “one of the most successful businessmen in the world” – paid no more tax than legally required.
“And this illegally published return proves just that,” the statement said.
“The dishonest media can continue to make this part of their agenda, while the President will focus on his, which includes tax reform that will benefit all Americans.”
In the broadcast, Maddow rejected the assertation that her show was acting illegally.
“For the record the First Amendment gives us the right to publish this material – it is not illegal – nor are we fake – pinch me, I’m real,” Maddow said.
President Trump’s tax returns became a prominent issue in the 2016 presidential campaign, with the New York Times breaking a story that the New York businessman may have used a to avoid paying personal federal income tax for up to 18 years.
At the opening of her broadcast, Maddow said MSNBC had not acquired the document directly.
MSNBC broke the news of the tax return on Rachel Maddow's live show. Source: MSNBC
“The way we got this document, the way we got this tax return, is through David Cay Johnson,” she said.
Mr Johnston is an investigative journalist and fierce Trump critic who won a Pulitzer in 2001 for his reporting on tax loopholes.
Presidential candidates customarily release their tax returns for scrutiny during US election campaigns, but Mr Trump broke with convention last year by refusing to release the returns, claiming he couldn't release them because they were the subject of an audit.
The IRS has since said that their auditing processes do not prevent Mr Trump from personally choosing to release the returns.
"There's something he's hiding," Democratic rival Hillary Clinton claimed in a debate with Mr Trump last year.
“Maybe he's not as rich as he says he is," she said. "Maybe he's not as charitable as he claims to be.”
Democrats have been making a renewed push for the release of the president's the tax returns in recent weeks, which President Trump's critics believe may show suspect financial ties, particularly to Russia.
