By Nandita Bose
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – President Donald Trump is capping a frenzied first week back in office with a stop in Las Vegas on Saturday to discuss tax cuts on tips, fulfilling a 2024 campaign promise in the gambling and hospitality hub.
Since taking office on Monday, the new Republican president has reversed numerous policies implemented by his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, and has begun to fulfill his commitment to remake and reduce the federal bureaucracy.
In visits on Friday to disaster-stricken areas in North Carolina and California, Trump pledged federal aid to assist those states in recovering from hurricanes and wildfires, despite previously suggesting shuttering the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In Las Vegas, Trump was expected to focus on a less controversial promise to eliminate taxes on income from tips and overtime, a proposal he first introduced in June while courting service workers in the presidential swing state of Nevada. The tip-heavy hospitality industry represents more than a fifth of jobs.
> “Can you remember that little statement about tips?” Trump remarked during one of several inauguration day speeches on Monday. “Anyone remember that statement? I believe we won Nevada because of that statement.”
Michael McDonald, chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, noted that the idea resonates with residents facing high prices for essential goods like food and gas.
> “He cares about the no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security. That was something we brought to the community, and everybody loved it because we’re all hurting,” McDonald told local television after welcoming Trump on Friday night.
Trump vowed to pursue an aggressive agenda of tax cuts if re-elected, although this may encounter hurdles even within a U.S. Congress led by his Republican counterparts.
The proposals Trump presented during his campaign — such as extending his 2017 tax cuts and abolishing taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security benefits — could potentially add $7.5 trillion to the nation’s debt over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Trump is proposing to explicitly allocate revenue from increased tariffs on imported goods to fund the extension of trillions of dollars in tax cuts, presenting an unprecedented shift that is likely to face resistance from Republican budget hawks concerned about the reliability of tariff revenue.
Days before his return to office, some Republican allies in Congress cautioned that Trump’s bold tax-cut agenda might be jeopardized by growing concerns in the bond market.
In a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, House Republicans expressed worries that the estimated $4 trillion cost over the next 10 years of extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts could hinder the U.S. government’s capacity to manage its $36 trillion debt, which is escalating by approximately $2 trillion annually.
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