US President Donald Trump paid $38m (£31m) in tax on more than $150m (£123m) income in 2005, a leaked partial tax return shows.

The two pages of tax return, revealed by US TV network MSNBC, also showed he wrote off $103m in losses. It gave no details on income sources.

The White House said publishing the tax return was against the law.

Mr Trump refused to release his tax returns during the election campaign, breaking with a long-held tradition. How was it found?

On Tuesday evening, MSNBC announced that it had a copy of one of Mr Trump's tax returns, dating from 2005.

The details were revealed on a show later that night, anchored by journalist Rachel Maddow.

MSNBC said they received the document from financial journalist and Trump biographer David Cay Johnston, who received it in the post from an anonymous source. Media captionDid Donald Trump leak his own tax return?

On the programme Mr Cay Johnston confirmed he had no further details on the source, but speculated that the leak could have come from Mr Trump himself.

Although leaking federal tax returns is a criminal offence, Ms Maddow argued that the network was exercising its right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment to the US Constitution to publish information in the public interest.

On Wednesday morning, President Trump slammed Mr Cay Johnston on Twitter, and cast doubt on the claim that the papers came unsolicited through the post. Image copyright Donald Trump

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist said he and his family received threats over the report, calling it a "disturbing sign of how Trump damages civil debate".

"Trump fans call & harass my wife & one of my children after I break story White House confirmed. Sad! Let's have open debate, not threats," he tweeted. What have we learnt?

Read More HERE

BBC News