A US national security expert said a recent report into Donald Trump's finances is raising serious concern about the President's motives and potential foreign influence.
A recent report by the New York Times revealed Trump avoided paying any income tax in 10 of the 15 years before his inauguration as US President.
It also said Trump has fallen into hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, and that a legal battle with the IRS could cost him as much as $100 million if it's found he wasn't entitled to a $72.9 million tax refund he claimed.
"Someone with a mountain of debt like President Trump is a national security risk and would be unable to get a security clearance if he were any other government employee," former US attorney and national security law expert Barb McQuade told news outlet Salon.
McQuade said he was particularly concerned that Trump may be vulnerable to influence from international agencies and corporate entities due to the debt.
"When someone is desperate for cash, they are susceptible to blackmail or bribery. For that reason, people with massive debt or in bankruptcy are not permitted access to our nation's secrets."
Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen told NBC News the most likely scenario is that the US President will "find some corrupt foreign entity to help him out of the situation".
McQuade said it will be interesting to see whether Trump will go with that scenario after he finishes as President, Salon reported.
"After President Trump leaves office, he will still know many of the secrets he learned as president. While he will no longer have the power to act on them, he will still have the power to disclose them. The Espionage Act makes it a crime to willfully reveal national defence information."
McQuade's comments come after US Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday Trump's debt is a "national security issue".
"This president appears to have over $400 million in debt. To whom? Different countries? What is the leverage they have? So for me, this is a national security question," Pelosi said according to NBC.
"We take an oath to protect and defend. This President is commander in chief. He has exposure to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, to whom? The public has a right to know."
Pelosi specifically mentioned Russia could be involved, citing policy and messaging items the Trump administration had pushed for recently that have been favourable to Russia.
"But the fact is whatever that leads to, the fact is over $400 million in leverage that somebody has over the president of the United States," she said, NBC reported.
