Trump avoids tax return questions as he brings yet another truck to the White House

President Trump and a truck.
(Image credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

President Trump ignored every pressing topic Monday as he welcomed one of his favorite things to the White House.

The New York Times dropped a bombshell report Sunday evening revealing Trump leveraged business losses to avoid paying taxes for years, as well as using other dubious financial strategies to lower his tax bills. Trump denied the report in a Sunday press conference, and on Monday, avoided questions about his tax returns altogether as he praised an electric pick-up truck.

The White House unexpectedly called reporters to the South Lawn on Monday, where they found Trump inspecting a Lordstown Motors 2021 electric pick-up truck. "We've all done a good job," Trump said after praising the truck's manufacturers, and then, out of nowhere, said "it's hotter now than it was before, and that's something really different." But before he could get too close to acknowledging fossil fuels' role in warming the Earth, he pivoted to call the truck "an incredible piece of science" and implied electrification is sure to "happen with more and more trucks and cars." He then walked away to reporters shouting "can you say anything about the tax returns?" and "when are you going to release them?"

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It's far from the first time Trump has brought trucks to the White House, though they're usually a bit bigger than this one. And as The Washington Post has reported, it's something his advisers will do to cheer the president up when he's "inconsolable."

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.