President Donald Trump on Friday tepidly backed the idea of raising taxes on the richest Americans, while openly wrestling with the politics of such a move and suggesting that his fellow Republicans should “probably” oppose it.
Trump’s public deliberation on social media came after he reached out to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., about adding a tax hike on the highest earners to the major tax and spending bill that the GOP aims to pass this year.
It’s the latest signal that Trump — whose agenda leans heavily on what he calls the “one, big, beautiful bill” passing through a divided Congress — is willing to buck the traditional Republican orthodoxy on taxing the rich.
Trump in the Truth Social post Friday morning said he “and all others” would “graciously” accept “even a ‘TINY’ tax increase for the RICH” for the benefit of “lower and middle income workers.”
But “the problem” with that idea, he wrote, “is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming, ‘Read my lips,’ the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election.”
“The problem with even a “TINY” tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming,”Read my lips,” the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election. NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election! In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I’m OK if they do!!!” — Donald Trump, Truth Social post
Trump was referring to then-candidate George H.W. Bush’s 1988 campaign promise that he would not raise taxes as president. Bush’s eventual failure to keep that promise created a major target for his political opponents and was seen as a factor in his loss in the 1992 election.
Trump’s post disputed that history. “NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election!” he wrote.
“In any event, Republicans should probably not do it,” Trump added.
But then, apparently reversing himself, he wrote, “I’m OK if they do!!!”
Asked for clarity later Friday on whether Trump does or does not want the top rates to increase, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he wants “the largest tax cuts in history.”
“As for the policy proposal you’re talking about, the president has said he himself, personally, would not mind paying a little bit more to help the poor and the middle class and the working class in this country,” Leavitt said.
“I think, frankly, that’s a very honorable position. But again, these negotiations are ongoing on Capitol Hill, and the president will weigh in when he feels necessary,” she added.
Trump’s post could put even more pressure on GOP leaders who are already struggling to craft a bill that meets his demands for a slew of major tax cuts, without adding so much to the deficit that the party’s fiscal hawks won’t vote for it.
Trump promised on the campaign trail and as president that he would eliminate taxes on overtime pay, on service workers’ tips and on Social Security for seniors, while extending the corporate tax cuts implemented in 2017 during his first term.
Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chairman of the tax-focused House Ways and Means Committee, is scheduled to meet with Trump on Friday, Politico first reported.
On Thursday, Johnson told Republicans that they will not be able to pay for the $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that they had previously been targeting, according to Politico.
Trump, in a phone call with Johnson on Wednesday, floated the idea of a higher tax bracket for top earners, albeit with a carve-out for small businesses, CNBC reported.
Trump also proposed closing the “carried interest loophole,” a feature of the tax code taken advantage of by Wall Street investors, NBC News reported.
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