--- title: Harry Reid: Donald Trump Is 'Faking' His Net Worth description: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid argued that Donald Trump has not released his tax returns because he's not worth as much as he claims. canonical: https://time.com/4501199/harry-reid-donald-trump-taxes/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-20T15:29:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:35.980Z article:section: Politics og:title: Harry Reid: Donald Trump Is 'Faking' His Net Worth og:description: "He's not worth nearly as much as he claims to be." og:url: https://time.com/4501199/harry-reid-donald-trump-taxes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b87e8dbd05f1417/69889a3a656a3f50d0bcc1de/zika-funding-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Harry Reid: Donald Trump Is 'Faking' His Net Worth twitter:description: "He's not worth nearly as much as he claims to be." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b87e8dbd05f1417/69889a3a656a3f50d0bcc1de/zika-funding-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Harry Reid: Donald Trump Is 'Faking' His Net Worth > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=68cd885b-df07-4f98-868c-1497b89b16c5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 20, 2016 3:29 PM UTC  Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., accompanied by Sen. Charles Schumer, right, faces reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 28, 2016. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., accompanied by Sen. Charles Schumer, right, faces reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 28, 2016. J. Scott Applewhite—AP by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 20, 2016 3:29 PM UTC Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid argued that Donald Trump has not released his tax returns because he’s not worth as much as he claims. Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday, the Nevada Democrat argued that the country is being ripped off by “really rich people, some who are billionaires, others who claim they are billionaires.” Reversing a decades-old trend, the Republican presidential nominee has declined to release his tax returns, arguing that he should not do so because he’s being audited. He [would be the first major party presidential nominee](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/13/us/politics/hillary-clinton-tim-kaine-taxes.html) not to make his taxes public since Richard Nixon. “He’s not worth nearly as much as he claims to be, that’s a secret he doesn’t want anyone to know,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “Simply put, Trump is faking his net worth because he doesn’t want us to know that he’s not a good businessman.” This was not the first time that Reid has taken this tack. In 2012, he alleged that then-Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had not paid taxes in over a decade, citing an anonymous source. That was revealed to be untrue when Romney released his returns, but [Reid never apologized](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/15/harry-reid-lied-about-mitt-romneys-taxes-hes-still-not-sorry/). Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has [released tax returns](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/hillary-clinton-releases-eight-years-of-tax-returns-120882) dating back to 1977. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4501199/harry-reid-donald-trump-taxes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4501199/harry-reid-donald-trump-taxes/"},"headline":"Harry Reid: Donald Trump Is 'Faking' His Net Worth","datePublished":"2016-09-20T15:29:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:35.980Z","description":"Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid argued that Donald Trump has not released his tax returns because he's not worth as much as he claims.","url":"https://time.com/4501199/harry-reid-donald-trump-taxes/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election","Congress","Harry Reid"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b87e8dbd05f1417/69889a3a656a3f50d0bcc1de/zika-funding-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b87e8dbd05f1417/69889a3a656a3f50d0bcc1de/zika-funding-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer","caption":"Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., accompanied by Sen. 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