AP Photo/ Evan Vucci Donald Trump defended himself on Monday from mounting criticism over his taxes.
Trump argued that he "brilliantly used" US tax law "to pay no more tax than I am legally required.".
Trump's campaign previously neither confirmed nor denied the accuracy of The Times report on his taxes, which came after a reporter was mailed three pages of Trump's 1995 tax returns.
Instead, a campaign statement accused The Times of "illegally" publishing the returns and praised Trump for using the tax code to his advantage, a line that Trump's surrogates repeated.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others insisted that Trump was a "genius" for taking advantage of the tax codes.
"But I'm working for you now, I'm not working for Trump," Trump said, to raucous cheers.
"I've been saying from the beginning of this campaign how ridiculous, complex, and yes, unfair the tax system is. »