Trump releases financial disclosure statements, revealing he made $479 million in 2018

The president broke presidential precedent by refusing to divest from his business interests while in office

(AFP/Getty Images)

Donald Trump reportedly made at least $479m in 2018, according to financial disclosure documents.

The president broke presidential precedent by refusing to divest from his business interests while in office and on the campaign trail. While Mr Trump serves as president, his two sons, Donald Jr and Eric, run the Trump Organisation. Mr Trump remains the head of the group.

While Mr Trump releases the mandated financial disclosure forms to the Office of Government Ethics annually, he has already broken another presidential precedent in refusing to release his personal tax returns.

Mr Trump cites audits by the IRS as a reason for failing to release them, and has defied orders by top Democrats to release the information.

Financial disclosure forms are less thorough than tax returns in that they allow those in office to report their income in ranges, as opposed to tax returns, which disclose more detailed information on assets and income.

These annual releases came as the Trump Administration faces another deadline from House Ways and Means chairman Richard Neal.

Mr Neal, who has unilateral subpoena power, issued subpoenas to IRS commissioner Charles Rettig and to Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, for six years of Mr Trump’s tax records.

Mr Mnuchin told reporters on Wednesday that the Trump Administration is unlikely to comply with the request: “I think you can pretty much guess how we’re going to, but we haven’t made a decision.”