Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Tuesday that President Trump told him he has no plans to raise taxes on anyone.
Mr. Gingrich, referencing the tax package Republicans want to pass as part of Mr. Trump’s economic agenda, said the president sent him an “interesting note” on the matter.
The issue is whether top marginal tax rates on the country’s wealthiest should be raised when major parts of his 2017 tax law expire at the end of this year.
Mr. Gingrich, a former Republican House member fropm Georgia, posted the note from Mr. Trump on his X account.
“Newt is quite possibly right on this. George Bush said, ‘Read my lips, No new taxes,’ then proceeded to give a rather small increase, and was obliterated,” the note states.
“While I love the idea of a small increase, the Democrats would probably use it against us, and we would be, like Bush, helpless to do anything about it! So, if you can do without it, you’re probably better off trying to do so,” Mr. Trump advises.
“We don’t need to be the ‘Read my lips’ gang who lost an Election, for no reason!” he concludes.
The Washington Times reached out to the White House for comment
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said last week the president will likely announce in the coming days whether he thinks the top marginal tax rates on the country’s highest earners should rise.
Mr. Hassett said the White House expects the tax package to pass by early summer and “things will move really quickly.”
“The tax policy of the president is going to be the decision of the president, and the president has advisers that say, ’Well, here are all of the options that you can consider. President Trump is almost always in the fairway ahead of watching his golf game, but on tax policy, he’s in the weeds and he’s going to make the decision,” Mr. Hassett said.
Conservative activists and small businesses had pushed back on the possibility that the White House and congressional Republicans may raise taxes on the country’s wealthiest.
Fiscal tax hawks such as Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, were taken aback when they first learned that White House staffers were urging Mr. Trump to agree to letting the top 37% tax rate rise to 40%.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, and the rest of his GOP leadership team oppose letting the reductions in the top rate lapse.
“I’m never for increasing taxes, ever,” he said. “I mean we are the Republican Party and we are for tax reduction for everyone.”
Also, the expiring tax-rate cuts in this income bracket not only benefit wealthy individuals, but also small businesses.
Republicans on Capitol Hill heard from 90 trade associations recently in a letter stating their opposition to letting the top rate rise to 40%.
The trade associations highlighted the federal tax code’s section 199A, which lets owners of pass-through businesses deduct up to 20% of their qualified business income from their taxable income in calculating their individual income tax liability.
It also noted section 1231, which deals with the tax treatment of gains and losses from the sale of certain business properties.
