Donald Trump’s ever-growing litany of tax proposals includes something for almost every American family: tipped workers, hourly employees, senior citizens — and now even the higher-income residents of Democratic-led states whose tax breaks he took away while president.
And he’s not done yet: Trump is expected to make a speech on Tuesday in Georgia to outline his vision to use tax breaks and other incentives to bolster US manufacturing.
The former president has thrown out such a wide range of tax proposals that even his own advisers are unsure about which ones he intends to enact if elected, Bloomberg reported.
Some of the pronouncements have also come as surprises and caused angst among allies.
Within Trump’s orbit, the former president’s menu of tax ideas is seen as a way to appeal to voters in an extremely tight election — particularly, low-and-middle-income Americans frustrated by high prices looking for financial relief.
“I see it as a way of Trump trying to figure out how he can win over more working-class Americans,” the report quoted Stephen Moore, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and informal economic adviser, who briefs Trump every few months on the state of the economy, as saying.
“Some of the ideas are good. Some of the ideas are not so good. On balance, most of the ideas are good,” Moore said.
Not since President George H. W. Bush asked voters to read his lips has a president made such big promises on taxes in an election campaign.
For Trump, as with Bush, the question is whether he can keep them. (Bush, despite his “no new taxes” pledge, increased levies.)
“Principles of sound tax policy, economics — that’s no longer in the driver’s seat. Politics is in the driver’s seat.
“That’s why we’re seeing carve-outs and things that sound good on the campaign trail,” said Erica York of Tax Foundation, a right-of-center think tank.
If elected, Trump would go into negotiations with Congress regarding a wish list totalling $11 trillion and counting, according to the Tax Foundation.
That includes the extension of the 2017 tax cuts, which will expire unless Congress acts.
He has also pledged as much as $2.8 trillion in additional revenue from tariffs to offset a portion of that cost.
The former president and his allies have said his tax-cut proposals would bolster economic growth, helping to offset some of the cost, though his campaign hasn’t provided any details.
The Trump campaign said he isn’t making empty promises.
“President Trump delivered on his promise to cut taxes in his first term and he will deliver again in his second term,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Bloomberg.
Vice President Kamala Harris has also made tax policy a central part of her campaign, pledging to increase the child tax credit, create incentives to first-time home-buyers and expand deductions for startup businesses.
She even co-opted one of Trump’s signature ideas — no taxes on tips, giving the proposal bipartisan momentum. Harris is planning her own economic-focused address this week.
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