--- ---  # Watch Rachel Maddow Address Trump's 'Fake News' Claims About the Tax Return Story by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Mar 16, 2017 3:35 PM UTC  Rachel Maddow on The Tonight Show in New York City on March 15, 2017. Rachel Maddow on The Tonight Show in New York City on March 15, 2017.Theo Wargo—Getty Images for NBC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Mar 16, 2017 3:35 PM UTC After President Donald Trump defied decades of political convention by declining to release his tax returns during his campaign, Rachel Maddow broke the internet this week when she revealed [Trump’s](http://time.com/4433880/donald-trump-ties-to-russia/?iid=sr-link6) 2005 tax returns during her _MSNBC_ show. Maddow stopped by _The Tonight Show_ on Wednesday to give Jimmy Fallon the background story that lead to investigative journalist David Cay Johnston [presenting the world](http://time.com/4701747/donald-trump-rachel-maddow-taxes/?iid=sr-link7) with a portion of Trump’s 2005 tax returns. “He said, ‘If we can verify it, do you want to put it on TV?’” Maddow said. “And I said, ‘hmm, yes, but we need to do our due diligence, too. We really need to be sure this is the real thing.’” Maddow told Fallon that at the last minute, the White House confirmed the document. “We got a statement from ’em,” she said. “You know they started calling us ‘[fake news](http://time.com/4675860/donald-trump-fake-news-attacks/?iid=sr-link9) blah blah blah’ and then we went to air.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/841966077005463553) The president tweeted that the story was “fake news”, which while not unexpected, rubbed Maddow the wrong way. “I’m happy to deal with either one of these assertions,” she said, “that it’s authentic or that it’s fake – but pick one.” Watch the full clip below. Rachel Maddow on Trump Fake News Twitter tax returns VIDEO ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4703530/rachel-maddow-responds-trump-fake-news/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4703530/rachel-maddow-responds-trump-fake-news/"},"headline":"Watch Rachel Maddow Address Trump's 'Fake News' Claims About the Tax Return Story","datePublished":"2017-03-16T15:35:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:41:57.426Z","description":"Rachel Maddow stopped by The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to discuss Donald Trump’s taxes and fake news accusation.","url":"https://time.com/4703530/rachel-maddow-responds-trump-fake-news/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","jimmy fallon","The Tonight Show","Donald Trump","Late Night Television","tax returns","trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78be73c6c667b4a7/6988bea54dd215ff9defe261/gettyimages-653602428.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78be73c6c667b4a7/6988bea54dd215ff9defe261/gettyimages-653602428.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rachel Maddow Visits \"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\"","caption":"Rachel Maddow Visits \"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\"","creditText":"Theo Wargo—Getty Images for NBC","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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4703530/rachel-maddow-responds-trump-fake-news/","name":"Watch Rachel Maddow Address Trump's 'Fake News' Claims About the Tax Return Story"}}]}] ```