- President Donald Trump did not deny having $400 million worth of debt during an NBC News town hall on Thursday.
- He did not say to whom he owed the money but claimed that he did not owe any money to Russia.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump did not deny having $400 million worth of debt when pressed on his taxes during an NBC town hall on Thursday.
Last month, The New York Times released a bombshell report about Trump’s taxes and alleged that “he is personally responsible for loans and other debts totaling $421 million, with most of it coming due within four years.”
“I will not mind at all saying who it is,” Trump said of whom he owes money to.
The president added that he doesn’t owe Russia money, and claimed that the amount of money he owes is a “tiny percentage” of his assets and wealth.
“Four-hundred million dollars compared to the assets that I have, all of these great properties all over the world,” he said.
He went on to further minimize how much he owed.
"What I'm saying is that it's a tiny percentage of my net worth," Trump said.
He would add: "The amount of money – $400 million, is a peanut."
Trump, however, has refused to release his tax returns and said it is because he is under audit and accused the Internal Revenue Service of treating him unfairly.
There is no rule that bans the president from releasing his tax returns while under audit.
"No except common sense and intelligence, and having lawyers that say... because I would love to release them and as soon as we come to a conclusion I will release them," Trump said.
Trump was responding to a town hall question about The Times report that also revealed that he only paid $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017. The report also found that Trump paid no income tax in 11 of the 18 years of tax documents that The Times reviewed.
