--- description: A WhiteHouse.gov petition demanding that President Trump release his tax returns has surpassed 140,000 signatures title: A Petition for Trump to Release His Taxes Has Enough Support for a Response image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24c0a4b9e3883975/6988b69bfb4eac176a8907b3/donald-trump-tax-return-petition.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Petition for President Trump to Release His Tax Returns Has Enough Support for a White House Response  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 21, 2017 10:06 PM CUT  President Donald Trump, speaks during the Armed Services Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017. President Donald Trump, speaks during the Armed Services Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017.Pete Marovich—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 21, 2017 10:06 PM CUT A [WhiteHouse.gov petition](https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/immediately-release-donald-trumps-full-tax-returns-all-information-needed-verify-emoluments-clause-compliance "undefined") demanding that [President Trump](http://time.com/4641547/inauguration-2017-donald-trump-america-first/ "undefined") release his tax returns has surpassed 140,000 signatures — a figure that would require the White House to respond if the new administration continues to follow a policy instituted by its predecessor. “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 [petition](https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/immediately-release-donald-trumps-full-tax-returns-all-information-needed-verify-emoluments-clause-compliance "undefined") reads. Trump broke with [decades of precedent](http://time.com/4326267/donald-trump-presidential-tax-returns-list/ "undefined") by [refusing to release his tax returns](http://time.com/4470908/donald-trump-tax-returns-poll/ "undefined") during the presidential campaign, citing a “routine audit.” A leaked [partial tax return](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-taxes.html "undefined") obtained by the New York _Times_ last year showed that Trump might have avoided paying federal income taxes for 18 years. More than 146,000 people had signed the WhiteHouse.gov petition by Saturday at 4:30 p.m., just a day after Trump was sworn in. The Obama administration established a policy of responding to any WhiteHouse.gov petition that received more than 100,000 signatures in 30 days. It’s not yet clear whether the Trump administration plans to do the same. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4642465/trump-inauguration-tax-returns-petition/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4642465/trump-inauguration-tax-returns-petition/"},"headline":"A Petition for President Trump to Release His Tax Returns Has Enough Support for a White House Response","datePublished":"2017-01-21T22:06:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:51:37.250Z","description":"The petition would require a response under an Obama administration policy","url":"https://time.com/4642465/trump-inauguration-tax-returns-petition/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24c0a4b9e3883975/6988b69bfb4eac176a8907b3/donald-trump-tax-return-petition.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24c0a4b9e3883975/6988b69bfb4eac176a8907b3/donald-trump-tax-return-petition.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Inside The Armed Services Inaugural Ball","caption":"Inside The Armed Services Inaugural Ball","creditText":"Pete Marovich—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4642465/trump-inauguration-tax-returns-petition/","name":"A Petition for President Trump to Release His Tax Returns Has Enough Support for a White House Response"}}]}] ```