--- title: Donald Trump Shouldn't Release Tax Returns, Son Says description: Donald Trump's son says it would be Foolish for his father to release his tax returns canonical: https://time.com/4464694/eric-trump-donald-tax-returns/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-24T16:41:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:48:00.580Z article:section: Politics og:title: It Would Be 'Foolish' For Donald Trump to Release Tax Returns, Son Says og:description: Eric Trump says his father shouldn't release his tax returns og:url: https://time.com/4464694/eric-trump-donald-tax-returns/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b15b0948bd705b0/69889cef8e0601ef3b466c7e/ivanka-trump-eric-trump-rnc-republican-national-convention-donald-trump-44.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5226 og:image:height: 2940 og:image:alt: Republican National Convention: Day Three og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: It Would Be 'Foolish' For Donald Trump to Release Tax Returns, Son Says twitter:description: Eric Trump says his father shouldn't release his tax returns twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b15b0948bd705b0/69889cef8e0601ef3b466c7e/ivanka-trump-eric-trump-rnc-republican-national-convention-donald-trump-44.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # It Would Be 'Foolish' For Donald Trump to Release Tax Returns, Son Says > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times 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. ## Video: Warren Buffett Challenges Donald Trump to Release Tax Returns [Watch (HLS stream): Warren Buffett Challenges Donald Trump to Release Tax Returns](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vdobB8oY.m3u8) (0:40)  _Published 2016-08-02. Billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett on Monday challenged Donald Trump to release his tax returns, accusing him of hiding something from the public._ by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Aug 24, 2016 4:41 PM UTC  Eric Trump along with his wife, Lara Yunaska, attend the third day of the Republican National Convention on July 20, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Eric Trump along with his wife, Lara Yunaska, attend the third day of the Republican National Convention on July 20, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Joe Raedle—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Aug 24, 2016 4:41 PM UTC Donald Trump’s son said Wednesday that it [would be “foolish”](http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/08/24/eric-trump-it-would-be-foolish-for-donald-trump-to-release-tax-returns/) for his father to release his tax returns. Eric Trump echoed his father during an appearance on CNBC, saying that the Republican presidential candidate can’t release his tax returns until the Internal Revenue Service [finishes an audit](http://time.com/4441399/donald-trump-tax-returns/), the Wall Street _Journal_ reports. “You would have a bunch of people who know nothing about taxes trying to look through and trying to come up with assumptions on things they know nothing about,” Trump said. “It would be foolish to do. I’m actually the biggest proponent of not doing it.” Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton [released her tax returns](http://time.com/4450445/clinton-releases-2015-tax-filing/) in early August, along with her running mate Tim Kaine. Mike Pence, Trump’s running mate, released a [financial disclosure report](http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/08/18/mike-pence-releases-financial-disclosure-report/) last week and said that he intends to release his tax returns, according to the _Journal_. Eric Trump, however, believes that Trump’s tax returns won’t show much. “You don’t learn that much from a tax return, in all fairness,” he told CNBC. ## Transcript One point, and I think he said it several times, is that he can't do it, can't release it because he's under audit. Now I've got new for him, I'm under audit too. [ LAUGH ] [ LAUGH ] And I would be delighted to meet him any place, anytime between now and election. I'll bring my tax return, he can bring his tax return. Nobody's going to arrest us, there are no rules against showing your tax returns. And just let people ask us questions about the items that are on there. You're only afraid if you got something to be afraid about. 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