After throwing his fellow Republicans for a loop by suggesting they tax the richest Americans, President Donald Trump appears to have had a change of heart.
Kind of.
In a post to his Truth Social network, Trump said Republicans probably shouldn’t tax the super-wealthy but “I’m OK if they do.”
The reason: Democrats looking to retake the narrowly divided House of Representatives in 2026 would have a field day with it, Trump mused, as he contemplated the politics of the move.
“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," Trump wrote. “NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election! In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I’m OK if they do!!!”
That’s a reference to Republican President George H.W. Bush’s campaign promise in his 1992 re-election campaign. He went on to lose to former Democratic President Bill Clinton.
Perot, a Texas billionaire, ran a spirited independent campaign for the White House that year.
Asked to clarify Trump’s post, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the Republican president wants “the largest tax cuts in history,” CNBC reported.
“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, according to the cable outlet.
“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, according to CNBC.
Trump’s post puts more pressure on Republican lawmakers who are working on a bill that meets Trump’s demands for major tax reductions without alienating budget hawks who don’t want to run up the deficit, CNBC reported.
During an appearance on GBH News’ “Boston Public Radio” program on Friday, U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-5th District, slammed Trump for offering financial incentives to women to have more children, even as his administration has slashed key public health services.
“Right now, for people who would like to have another child or a child, it is often just too expensive, and we can’t continue to say to families at the same time, they’re taking away Medicaid, this unbelievable cut to the biggest insurance program, that health program that we have in our country, we’re going to take that away for tax cuts for the very wealthiest,” Clark, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, said.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is facing increasing internal pressure over Medicaid cuts as Republicans try to move a key part of Trump’s domestic agenda through a House committee next week, NBC News reported.
Swing-district Republicans are growing increasingly wary of significant Medicaid cuts as they face political heat, while conservative hard-liners are threatening to torpedo the bill unless it contains $2 trillion in cuts, NBC News reported.
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Original story HERE.