Trump says he would 'love' to release his tax returns but won't do it while ...

 Donald Trump said Wednesday he would 'love' to release his tax returns – but won't do so because he was under an audit, returning to an argument he has made throughout his presidency. 

The president made the defiant statement on a day House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Neal had set as the deadline for the IRS to turn over six years of Trump's tax returns – setting off a likely legal struggle.

Trump's refusal comes as a new Morning Consult/Politico poll found that a majority of American voters, 51 per cent, support the push for Trump to turn over his tax returns to Congress.  

Trump was asked about a law allowing the heads of key congressional committees to gain access to any U.S. return. 

'There is no law. As you know, I got elected last time with this same issue,' he said, pointing to repeated calls for him to release his returns during the 2016 election.

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'And while I'm under audit, I won't do it. If I'm not under audit I would do it. I have no problem with it. But while under audit I would not give my taxes. There is no law whatsoever.' 

One of the questions Neal asked the IRS was to provide information on whether Trump was under audit. 

'I will say this, I would love to give them, but I'm not going to do it while I'm under audit,' Trump said. 'It's very simple. remember, I got elected last time the same exact issue with the same intensity, which wasn't very much,' Trump said.

'Because frankly the people don't care. What i have done is approximately a 104-page summary and really in great detail of assets and values and nobody wants to go over that because it's so good,' Trump said, pointing to his financial disclosure statement, which federal candidates for office are required to produce.