After teasing the big reveal for an hour leading up to her show, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow disclosed the 2005 tax returns of Donald Trump Tuesday night. Unfortunately for Maddow and company, after MSNBC's breathless announcements, complete with a "Trump's Tax Returns" countdown clock, the White House stole her thunder by going ahead and giving America the numbers – and slamming the network for trying to make a big show of something over a decade old and "illegally published." The big takeaway: Trump paid over $36 million on an income of over $150 million, an effective tax rate of 25%. In the end, as sister organization CNBC put it, Maddow ended up handing Trump "a nice victory."
In a "BREAKING" tweet Tuesday evening, Maddow announced that they've "got Trump tax returns... (Seriously)."
BREAKING: We've got Trump tax returns. Tonight, 9pm ET. MSNBC.
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) March 14, 2017
(Seriously).
DC Report's David Cay Johnston chimed in to announce that he'd be on air with Maddow to help her explain to her audience how they should feel about the returns, tweeting, "I'll break a big story about Trump and his taxes - 9PM eastern."
The series of announcements were soon followed by a dismissive, rather hilarious statement from the White House beating team MSNBC to the punch.