With so much news coming out of the White House on a daily basis, you could be forgiven for forgetting about the issue of President Donald Trump’s tax returns and why they still haven’t been shown to the public. While it might seem like there are other, more pressing issues to be concerned about, the fact that Trump has yet to release his tax returns cannot just slip by us. The following reasons demonstrate this importance.

Trump campaigned on his supposed business smarts, and that was definitely a key factor in how he got elected. However, the facts say otherwise. While being an entrepreneur means dealing with some failures, Trump has a losing streak akin to unlucky folks betting at his failed casinos. With multiple bankruptcies, the failure of things like Trump University, Trump Airlines and Trump Steaks, Trump’s business sense seems a lot more like nonsense. Tax returns can speak for themselves and show that his self-congratulatory attitude was just a lot of hubris. Had he released his tax returns before the 2016 presidential election, it’s likely that being exposed as a fraud would have resulted in him not being elected. With another election in our midst, you can bet he’ll keep wanting to avoid the issue.

Trump’s reluctance to release his tax returns could be about exposing his earnings as being far less than he proclaims them to be and not wanting to be exposed for committing any number of crimes. As president, he’s had many shady deals, such as attempting to have the G7 summit hosted at one of his own resorts. Any forensic accountant should be able to take a closer look and investigate any potential financial crimes. Even someone with a forensic accounting degree should be able to understand how he’s tried to circumvent the law. The wealthy have been able to play by their own rules for far too long, and if Trump is able to complete his run as president without ever being held accountable, it could set a disastrous precedent for what we tolerate in future leaders of this country.

The honesty of President Trump has constantly been called into question as he’ll make statements that completely contradict previous ones with stunning frequency. He has said that he’d release his tax returns in the past, so what’s stopping him? Trump’s not being asked to do something out of the ordinary. The release of tax returns from presidents and presidential nominees has been a tradition for decades because transparency between the American people and their leaders shouldn’t be optional. 

If Trump has nothing to hide, then he has no choice but to release his tax returns. The relative silence that has allowed him to skate by without doing so must be extinguished, or he’ll be proving even further than he’s not fit to serve in the highest office in the land. A president must never be above the law, nor should he or she be allowed to have deception excused. President Trump would love for you to forget about his tax returns and assume that it’s a nonissue. However, the more we press after this issue, the less he’ll be able to hide.

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