‘What is the leverage they have?’: Nancy Pelosi labels Trump’s debts a ‘national security question’

‘He has exposure to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, to whom?’

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has labelled Donald Trump’s debts reported by The New York Times a “national security "question” suggesting that people may have “leverage” over the president.

Ms Pelosi, a California Democrat, discussed the explosive revelations from the report in an interview with NBC News on Monday.

“This president appears to have over $400 million in debt ... To whom? Different countries? What is the leverage they have? So for me, this is a national security question,” she said.

“We take an oath to protect and defend. This president is commander in chief. He has exposure to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, to whom? The public has a right to know."

The comments come following allegations in The Times report that Mr Trump has amassed $421 million of loans and debt and remains under audit for a $72.9m tax refund he applied for and secured years ago after he reported millions of dollars in losses.

"The fact that you could have a sitting president who owes hundreds of millions of dollars that he's personally guaranteed to lenders, and we don't know who these lenders are," Ms Pelosi said.

The president also allegedly paid no federal income tax in 10 of the past 15 years and paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016, the year he won the presidency, and again during his first year in office, according to The Times.

Mr Trump denied the contents of The Times report at a previously scheduled press conference within minutes of its publication on Sunday.

"It's fake news. Totally fake news. Made up," Mr Trump said, without addressing any of the story's specifics.

Ms Pelosi went on to suggest that Mr Trump may be indebted to Russian President Vladimir Putin but did not provide any evidence for the suggestion.

“What does Putin have on the president politically? Personally? Financially?”, she said.

The president has fiercely protected his tax filings having fought a long-running legal battle to prevent House Democrats obtaining them.

Other ethics experts have raised fears that Mr Trump’s debts could raise national security concerns he could be manipulated to sway US policy by organizations or individuals he’s indebted to.

“Americans should be concerned about the president’s debt because it’s a national security risk for our country ” said Donald Sherman, deputy director of the nonprofit government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

“This is information that the president has aggressively and repeatedly tried to keep away from the public.”

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.