Trump visits Las Vegas to discuss tipping taxes.
President Donald Trump ended a busy first week back in office with a stop in Las Vegas on Saturday (25) to talk about cutting tipping taxes, a 2024 campaign promise he made at the gambling and hospitality center.
Since taking office last Monday (20), the new Republican president has reversed a series of policies implemented by his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden and has begun to fulfill his promise to reform and reduce the federal bureaucracy.
Trump told the crowd, which numbered in the hundreds, that he also chose Las Vegas as one of his first visits as the 47th president to "thank the people of Nevada for giving us such a great victory."
In Las Vegas, Trump was expected to discuss a less controversial promise to end taxation on tip and overtime income, a proposal he first made in June when courting service workers in the presidential tipping point state of Nevada.
The hospitality industry, which receives a lot of tips, comprises more than a fifth of jobs.
“Do you remember that little statement about tipping?” Trump said during one of several inauguration day speeches on Monday. “Does anyone remember that little statement? I think we won in Nevada because of that statement.”
Michael McDonald, chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, said the idea is appealing to people in the state who are facing high prices for essential goods such as food and gasoline.
“He cares about banning tipping taxes, banning Social Security taxes. That was something we brought to the community, and everyone loved it because we’re all suffering,” McDonald told local television after hosting Trump Friday night.
Trump has promised to pursue an aggressive tax cut agenda if re-elected, which may face some obstacles even in a US Congress controlled by his fellow Republicans.
During his speech, Trump promised to work with Congress to eliminate tipping taxes, a campaign promise he recalled stemming from his birthplace in Las Vegas.
The proposals Trump made during his election campaign — from extending his 2017 tax cuts to abolishing taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security benefits — could add $7,5 trillion to the country's debt over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB).
Trump is promoting a plan to explicitly use revenue from higher tariffs on imported goods to help pay for trillions of dollars in extended tax cuts. This unprecedented move is likely to face opposition from budget-conscious Republicans concerned about the reliability and sustainability of tariff revenue.
Days before returning to office, some of his Republican allies in Congress warned that Trump's aggressive tax cut agenda could fall victim to signs of concern in the bond market.
In a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, Republicans in the House of Representatives expressed concerns that the estimated $4 trillion cost over the next 10 years of extending Trump's 2017 tax cuts could undermine the U.S. government's ability to pay its $36 trillion debt, which is growing at a rate of $2 trillion per year.
