As Republicans finalized their tax proposal, President Donald Trump offered mixed messaging, saying Friday that he would support raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans to help pay for his sweeping legislative agenda while also stating that Republicans “should probably not do it.”
“The issue with even a ‘TINY’ tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would gladly accept in order to help 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 case, Republicans should probably not do it, but I am fine with it!!!” Trump wrote in a post on his social media account.
During Friday’s White House press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described Trump’s position on raising taxes on the wealthy as “very honorable”.
“The president himself has said he would not mind paying a little bit more to help the poor and the middle class and the working class in this country,” according to Leavitt. “These negotiations are ongoing on Capitol Hill and the president will weigh in when he feels necessary.”
The ambiguous presidential declaration has thrown negotiators into a frenzy, with the House Ways and Means committee set to mark up their legislation next week.
The inclusion of a tax increase in the “big, beautiful bill” would be a significant reversal for House GOP leaders, who have previously argued that allowing current tax rates to expire would be a tax increase.
“I am not in favor of raising tax rates because that is — our party has traditionally opposed that,” Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview with Fox News in late April.
During his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in 1992, incumbent President George H.W. Bush famously said, “Read my lips: no new taxes.” Voters eventually rejected Bush at the polls after he broke his promise and signed legislation drafted by congressional Democrats to increase tax revenues to address the growing budget deficit.