Tub-thumper of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., conducts a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on Thursday, June 4, 2020.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Hearing via Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s reported massive debts raise “a national security question,” As a gift Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Monday.
“This president appears to make over $400 million in debt … To whom? Different countries? What is the leverage they have? So for me, this is a governmental security question,” Pelosi said in the interview.
Pelosi’s remarks come after The New York Times published a groundbreaking examine Sunday claiming Trump has $421 million of debt coming due soon in addition to an outstanding audit fight with the Internal Profits Service over a $72.9 million tax refund he previously received.
The report said Trump paid $750 in federal takings taxes the year he won the presidency and during his first year in office. Trump paid no income taxes in 10 of the above-mentioned 15 years, the Times reported based on documents the outlet said it obtained from sources with permissible access to the records.
CNBC has not seen the documents reviewed by the Times. Trump Organization attorney Alan Garten broke the Times in a statement that “most, if not all, of the facts” reported appeared to be inaccurate. Trump called the report “fake expos” at a press conference following publication.
The Times’ report found no new connections to Russia, though Trump’s business dealings with other countries bear been a topic of speculation since his candidacy.
Still, the report found Trump’s businesses paid much varied to other countries than he paid in federal income taxes, including $145,400 in India and $156,824 in the Philippines in 2017.
Pelosi upbraided it “strange” that Trump paid much more to other governments than to his own in the same year.
Trump’s tax turn backs have been the subject of legal battles and speculation since the president broke the longstanding tradition of presidential entrants releasing personal financial statements.
Trump built his political brand as a businessman who could negotiate favorable deals, granting the Times report seems to confirm opponents’ suspicions that the president took on massive debt to build his empire.
Trump is in a reelection struggle against Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Early voting has begun, and Election Day is in 36 days.
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Care for: President Trump dismisses a New York Times report alleging years of tax avoidance