At a town hall event on NBC on Thursday evening, President Donald Trump downplayed the $421 million that he owes his creditors calling it a “very small amount of money.” Asked about recent New York Times reports based on leaked tax information detailing those finances, Trump sought to portray his financial situation as completely unremarkable. “I have a very, very small percentage of debt compared—in fact, some of it I did as favors to institutions that wanted to loan me money.” Since the Times published its exposes on Trump’s finances, experts have raised concerns that the president’s sizable debts could constitute a national security threat. The president dismissed those concerns on Thursday. “I don't owe money to any sinister people,” Trump insisted. He appeared to say that he “probably” owes money to a foreign bank but his quote was mangled. Trump also intimated that those responsible for the publication of his tax information should be prosecuted. “If they have my tax returns, as you know, they have to go to jail,” he said. “It's illegal.”
