Trump on Releasing His Tax Returns: From ‘Absolutely’ to ‘Political Prosecution’

So at this point, no one is expecting to see the president’s tax returns anytime soon, even though the Supreme Court issued a major ruling on Thursday that cleared the way for New York prosecutors to seek them. But there will be further skirmishing in the lower courts, and there is little chance of a final decision before the next election.

The Early Promises

Mr. Trump has promised to release his tax returns under varying conditions for nearly a decade.

In 2011, he began appearing on television to question whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States — spreading a lie that he has never fully apologized for — and suggesting that he would release his returns when Mr. Obama released his birth certificate.

“Maybe I’m going to do the tax returns when Obama does his birth certificate,” he said in an interview with ABC in April 2011. “I’d love to give my tax returns. I may tie my tax returns into Obama’s birth certificate.”

Days after that interview, Mr. Obama released his long-form birth certificate.

Mr. Trump did not keep his end of the deal. In 2014, an Irish journalist pointed out that he had never released his tax returns, even though he had coerced Mr. Obama into releasing his birth certificate. In that interview, Mr. Trump then added a new qualifier: He would release them if he ran for president.