President Donald Trump shrugged off the prospect of Democrats going after his tax returns if the party wins control of the House in this week’s midterm contests, suggesting Monday he was unbothered by a protracted fight over his financial documents.
“I don’t care. They can do whatever they want, and I can do whatever I want,” Trump said as he deplaned in Indiana for his second rally of the day.
The President has focused much of his campaigning in the final stretch on shoring up Republican Senate candidates, though he insisted the House will still very much in play.
Aside from the legislative challenges a Democratic House would pose, the White House has been grappling with how its political opponents would wield new investigative powers should they assume control.
A top target for Democrats remains Trump’s personal tax returns, an ask that Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told the the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board last month is “one of the first things we’d do.”
Trump bucked tradition as a candidate by not releasing his tax returns. The White House has insisted his taxes remain under audit and cannot be released before that is complete.
If Democrats do decide to request the President’s tax documents, aides expect a protracted legal battle in the fight for the returns. Behind the scenes, there has been some reluctance to even pursue them and aides are trying to set expectations within the caucus about what it will mean for the party if it makes the tax returns a cornerstone of its investigative pursuit against Trump.
Trump has publicly remained nonchalant about the notion of a Democratic-controlled House. He said Monday “we’ll just have to work a little bit differently” if the opposing party takes control, but didn’t offer any specific strategy.
Standing on the tarmac at the Fort Wayne, Indiana, airport, the President said he was prepared to own any result of Tuesday’s election.
“If they want to give me the credit or the liability, I’m willing to take it,” he said.