Demand to see Trump’s tax returns will only grow

Follow @csteditorialsHere’s the thing, President Donald Trump says, about those nasty protesters demanding to see his tax returns: Whose pocket are they secretly in?

“Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday,” Trump tweeted on Sunday.

The irony, of course, is that Trump is using the exact same argument for why he should, in fact, release his tax returns. Because the public deserves to know whose pocket he might be in. If there are potential conflicts of interest between his political decisions and business interests, they should be disclosed. How else are we know to when the president is working for us or for The Trump Organization?

Trump says this is old news. “The election is over!” he also tweeted Sunday. But it will never be old news, not given this president’s breathtaking disregard for ethical behavior. He has turned his Florida golf resort, Mar-a-Lago, into a weekend White House — now there’s a money-maker for you. And he has made only the most feeble gesture toward distancing himself from his business interests, putting his string-puppet sons in charge.

Trump says nobody cares. But that’s not what Americans said at rallies across the country on Saturday. A poll taken in January, the results of which we have no reason to doubt still hold true, found that three of every four Americans — including a majority of Republicans — think Trump should release his tax returns.

Every time Trump makes a move as president, from altering trade policy to easing Wall Street regulations, the American public will wonder what’s in it for him. Because, best we can tell, Trump never does anything that doesn’t have something in it for him.

The public’s demand to see Trump’s tax returns will not end. It will grow with every decision he makes.

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