In order to fund his policies aimed at strengthening the middle and working classes, President Donald Trump is thinking of raising the taxes of affluent Americans.
Fox News Digital was informed by a person close with Trump’s thinking that he is thinking of raising the tax rate for anyone earning $2.5 million or more by 2.6%, from 37% to 39.6%.
In a phone call on Wednesday, he subtly pressed Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on the matter, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
The president has dubbed the package his “big, beautiful bill.” It comes as Republicans are working on a major piece of legislation that advances Trump’s aims on immigration, energy, defense, taxes, border security, and the national debt.
Fiscal hawks are searching for ways to offset the bill’s projected trillion-dollar deficit over the next ten years and position America for a less bloated government in the future by combining the new priorities with significant spending cuts elsewhere.
It is anticipated that the tax section of the law will be the most expensive.
In addition to funding more recent Trump agenda items like removing taxes on gratuities, overtime pay, and Social Security for retirees, Republicans are aiming to prolong the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).
Prior to its expiration at the end of 2025, the TCJA reduced taxes for the top bracket from 39.6% to 37%. Trump wants to bring that top bracket back, but only for those who earn much more than the present threshold. For single income earners, the top tax bracket is currently $609,350.
According to the person familiar with Trump’s thinking, doing so would preserve Medicaid coverage for millions of Americans and help fund his “massive” tax cuts for the middle and working classes.
Details are anticipated to surface in the next several days, but it is still unclear what Republicans will decide or even whether they will finally opt to raise taxes on the richest earnings.
To move that part of Trump’s package along, the House’s tax-writing committee, the Ways & Means Committee, is scheduled to convene Tuesday afternoon.
The Republican Party is deeply divided as a result of discussions about possible tax increases for the wealthy.
While populist and more moderate Republicans have suggested such ideas to pay for Trump’s priorities to aid the middle and working classes, mainstream conservatives have objected to discussions of hiking rates on anyone, claiming it would negatively affect job creators.
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Marc Short, a key player in the TCJA discussions and a former chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, stated that it makes no sense to raise taxes on America’s wealthiest earnings and largest job creators.
However, several Republicans have stated in recent weeks that they think the notion might be well-liked.
“I’m open-minded to what the president or the treasury secretary may have in mind. And I would want to see some numbers behind it and how it would have an effect on the economy,” conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., stated in late April.
