Trump pledges ‘Upper Class’ tax cut if he returns to White House

By Ranjeetha Pakiam, Laura Davison and Hadriana Lowenkron

Donald Trump pledged to double down on tax cuts if he wins a second term as president, drawing a distinction with President Joe Biden who has called for tax hikes on businesses and the richest Americans.

“Instead of a Biden tax hike, I’ll give you a Trump middle class, upper class, lower class, business class big tax cut,” Trump said at a rally Saturday in Wildwood on the New Jersey shore.

Whichever candidate wins the White House in November will have to contend with tax negotiations in 2025 with the personal income tax cuts in Trump’s 2017 law set to expire unless Congress acts.

Biden — who’s headed for an expected election rematch with Trump — has said he would eliminate tax cuts that benefit households earning more than $400,000 and would raise levies on rich Americans and large corporations.

Also expiring at the end of next year are restrictions on the estate tax and a deduction for business owners, which have been criticized for skewing tax benefits to high-earners.

Trump’s comments on Saturday shed some more light on his emphasis on cutting taxes across the board, including for top earners and businesses. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has yet to release a formal tax plan.

Economic advisers in Trump’s orbit are regularly meeting with him to pitch him on policy ideas, including a flat tax and other ideas to further decrease levies. Earlier this year, Trump told his advisers he was considering extending the personal tax cuts by maintaining the 21% corporate rate, rather than reducing it to the 15% he advocated for while in office