President Barack Obama said "the American people expect" Mitt Romney to release further tax returns, as he defended the often negative tone of his own re-election campaign.
Barack Obama said he could not be 'absolutely confident' that Syria's weapons were still secure
In an intervention designed to capitalise on Mr Romney's discomfort talking about his wealth, Mr Obama said that his Republican rival's personal finances were "relevant information" in the presidential election.
Mr Romney has so far refused to release more than two years of tax returns, breaking precedent with other recent presidential candidates and prompting gleeful Democrat speculation that the former private equity executive is trying to hide elaborate measures taken to reduce his tax burden .
"This isn't sort of overly personal - this is pretty standard stuff. I don't think we're being mean by asking him to do what every other presidential candidate has done. It's what the American people expect," Mr Obama said at a rare White House press conference.
"The American people have assumed that if you want to be President of the United States then your life is an open book when it comes to things like your finances," Mr Obama said.
Mr Romney insisted last week that he had always paid at least 13 per cent tax, a response to unsubstantiated allegations by Senator Harry Reid, the most senior congressional democrat, that he avoided taxes for an entire decade.
Mr Obama's campaign said it would drop the issue of tax returns if Mr Romney agreed to release five years of returns, a politically-motivated offer that was quickly rejected by the Romney camp.
The President was also questioned about the tone of his own campaign and ad by an allied SuperPAC that appeared to imply Mr Romney was responsible for a women's death after husband lost his health insurance coverage.
"We don't go out of bounds," he said, insisting that it was not for him to condemn the ad produced by Priorities USA, an independent group run by former White House staffers.
"I don't think that Governor Romney was somehow responsible for the death of the woman that was portrayed in that ad," he said.
The President countered that the Romney campaign was making a "patently false" argument when it accused the White House of trying to unravel Bill Clinton's reforms to the US welfare system.
Mr Romney said the administration had tried to end the requirement that those on welfare look for employment. In fact, the White House had granted some states flexibility on implementing the programme at the request of their governors, including two Republicans, but kept work requirements in place.
The brief press conference was only Mr Obama's second at the White House in 2012 and his appearance was met with ironic jeers by some of the media. "Don't be a stranger," one reporter shouted as Mr Obama walked out of the briefing room
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