Donald Trump could be forced to reveal tax returns under New York Democrats plan

Mr Trump has claimed the general public is not interested in the issue

Democrats in Donald Trump’s home state have come up with a plan to try and force him to release his local tax returns.

Mr Trump has repeatedly made clear he has no intention of releasing his taxes - wether federal or local. He and the White House have claimed the general public is not interested in the subject.

But the Associated Press said New York Democrats have come up with a plan to get at his local tax records by crafting a piece of legislation that does everything but mention the president by name.

The bill introduced in New York’s Senate and Assembly would require the state to release five years of state tax information for any president or vice president who files a New York state return.

The AP said that while the return would not include all the details contained on his federal return, it would be a way of providing at least some information on an issue on which Mr Trump has been utterly opaque.

Democrats in New York and more than two dozen states have written bills that would require presidential candidates to release their federal returns in order to appear on that state's ballot.

None of those, however, would require Mr rump to release old returns. New York state “is in a unique position to change the national conversation”, according to Democratic Senator Brad Hoylman, of Manhattan, because the president is a native New Yorker.

“This is drawing a line in the sand: Are you for transparency or not,” he said. “This is an issue of national security.”

The Democrat-led state Assembly is likely to support the measure but not the Senate, where Republicans are in charge.

“This sounds like a PR stunt,” said Scott Reif, a spokesman for state senate Republicans.