prescott valley, ariz.<u+2014>republican presidential nominee donald<u+00a0>trump blamed his democratic opponent, hillary clinton, for a u.s. tax code that allowed him to declare a big loss and likely reduced or even eliminated his federal liability for years. <u+201c>why didn<u+2019>t she ever try to change those laws so i couldn<u+2019>t use them?<u+201d> mr.<u+00a0>trump<u+00a0>said tuesday at a campaign rally here, referring to her time as a u.s. senator from new york from 2001 to 2009. <u+201c>the reason that she did not do that is her donors and contributors have used those same tax laws as i did. the same way.<u+201d> mr. trump<u+2019>s tax records that were disclosed over the weekend were from 1995, several years before mrs. clinton took office. mr. trump himself has been a clinton donor. since 2002, he has donated $4,700 to mrs. clinton<u+2019>s senate and presidential campaigns, according to federal election commission filings, though he was ultimately refunded $4,000. five weeks from election day, mr.<u+00a0>trump<u+00a0>returned to arizona for the first time since a noted immigration speech in the state on aug. 31. although the state has been a conservative stronghold for republican presidential candidates, a wall street journal/nbc news/marist poll in arizona last month showed mr.<u+00a0>trump<u+00a0>with a lead of just 1 percentage point in the state. mr.<u+00a0>trump<u+00a0>reminded the crowd of several thousand that he wanted to build a wall along the u.s.-mexico border, which drew applause and chants of <u+201c>build the wall.<u+201d> mr.<u+00a0>trump<u+00a0>has spent several days trying to counter the unauthorized release of some of his tax records by acknowledging the unfairness of the u.s. tax code. he has cast himself as the only candidate in the race who understands the nuances of the complex laws. during two rallies in colorado on monday, mr.<u+00a0>trump<u+00a0>said he had a fiduciary responsibility to pay as little tax as possible. he acknowledged that it was unfair and vowed to make the tax code more balanced. but in arizona on tuesday, mr.<u+00a0>trump<u+00a0>mostly returned to his stump speech, promising to be a law-and-order president who would halt illegal immigration and reduce crime and poverty in america<u+2019>s major cities. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m going to keep the terrorists the hell out of the country,<u+201d> mr.<u+00a0>trump<u+00a0>said on tuesday. earlier in the day, mr.<u+00a0>trump<u+00a0>held a private meeting with about a dozen energy executives in denver, where he repeated complaints from the campaign trail that the industry is saddled with too many regulations. <u+201c>the energy business is being decimated,<u+201d> he said. trump<u+00a0>repeatedly criticized mrs. clinton during the meeting for what he said was her support of overregulation of the energy industry. write to michael c. bender at mike.bender@wsj.com
donald trump blames hillary clinton over the tax code - wsj
michael c. bender