At a press conference on Jan. 11, Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter who badgered him about his tax returns. He claimed that Americans don’t care: “I won, when I became president. No, I don’t think they care at all. I don’t think they care at all,” he said.
Actually, Americans really, really want to see Donald Trump’s tax returns. A petition on the White House website for full financial disclosure garnered 107,000 signatures in about 12 hours after he was sworn in to office. The full text reads:
Immediately release Donald Trump’s full tax returns, with all information needed to verify emoluments clause compliance.
The unprecedented economic conflicts of this administration need to be visible to the American people, including any pertinent documentation which can reveal the foreign influences and financial interests which may put Donald Trump in conflict with the emoluments clause of the Constitution.
The White House is now obliged to give the public “an official update” within 60 days, according to the mechanics of the petitions section of the website. It’s the first appeal to reach the minimum signature goal since Trump’s administration took over the office’s official website yesterday. A petition for the president to divest his financial assets has garnered more than 33,000 signatures and one that called him to resign, after less than 24 hours on the job, has garnered over 307 signatures, at the time of writing this.
As a direct channel to the president’s office, the “We The People” page is among the most popular sections on the White House website. The Obama administration created the simplified online portal in 2011 and had to raise signature requirements in 2013 after being flooded with thousands of requests and proposals.