At a rally in battleground Nevada over the weekend, former President Donald Trump unveiled a new policy objective should he return to the White House: an end to taxing the income workers make from tips.
The former president and 2024 GOP candidate used the backdrop of his campaign rally in Las Vegas, where the economy is dominated by tourism and hospitality and many workers rely on tips for income, to debut the proposal.
“So this is the first time I’ve said this and for those hotel workers and people who get tips, you’re going to be very happy,” Trump told a crowd in Las Vegas on Sunday, “because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips, people making tips.”
Calling it “deserved,” Trump added he would move on the policy change “right away, first thing in office.”
Currently, tips must be recorded as income and are subject to taxation.
The move marked Trump’s latest bid to appeal to workers in the service industry as both he and President Joe Biden seek the backing of organized labor – something that could be crucial to winning the blue-collar workers in a few key swing states – ahead of their likely rematch in November.
“Hopefully Rank and File Union Members, Union Leadership itself, and Workers all over the Country, both Union and Non-Union, will support Donald J. Trump, because I’m NO TALK AND ALL ACTION! “ the former president wrote in a post on his social media site, Truth Social.
The potential move was met with pushback from the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which represents hospitality workers spanning most of the casinos on the Las Vegas strip.
“Relief is definitely needed for tip earners, but Nevada workers are smart enough to know the difference between real solutions and wild campaign promises from a convicted felon,” Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said in a statement, referencing the verdict in Trump’s hush money case in New York last month.
Biden met with members of the local union, which is supporting the incumbent president, while in Las Vegas in February ahead of the Nevada primary. And the incumbent president, who often calls himself the “most pro-union president” has raked in endorsements from groups such as the United Auto Workers, North America’s Building Trades Unions, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and more.
On the other hand, the Teamsters union for instance, met with both Biden and Trump and has yet to announce their preferred candidate. At the time, Trump acknowledged the group typically endorses Democratic candidates but noted “Stranger things have happened.”
The new pledge from the former president on Sunday adds another insight into his platform on the topic and it comes as the sweeping tax cuts Trump signed into law in 2017 are set to expire next year. Trump has said he intends to extend the cuts if he is in the White House in 2025, accroding to reports.
In a memo on Monday, White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates responded to reporting from the Washington Post that congressional Republicans are looking to further lower tax rates for corporations on top of extending the 2017 tax cuts if they take control in November, framing the potential move as "choosing corporate greed over hardworking Americans."
"Instead, President Biden has a concrete plan to attack the deficit and lower costs by making the wealthy and big corporations finally pay their fair share in taxes, getting Big Pharma to lower drug prices, and making room for tax cuts that lower costs for the middle class – including tax credits for home buying and families with children," the memo reads.
Biden has pledged not to raise taxes for those making less than $400,000 but has proposed increases for the wealthy and corporations, pledging he will let Trump’s cuts as they stand now expire should he get another term.
The former president also took Sunday’s rally to criticize Biden’s recent executive action on the border, using a profanity to describe it, as Trump also relaunched his strategy to reach Hispanic voters in 2024 under a new name: “Latino Americans for Trump.” Previously, the Trump team called the effort just “Latinos for Trump.”
In a statement, the Biden campaign’s Hispanic Media Director Maca Casado called Trump’s courting of Latino voters a “slap in the face.”
“Where were all the Latinos at Donald Trump’s ‘Latino Americans with Trump’ launch?” Casado said in a statement. “All we saw today was a wannabe dictator spouting his trademark hatred for our community, doubling down attacking immigrants, and espousing the same racist tropes against Venezuelans.”
While Democrats have historically enjoyed solid support from Latino voters, recent polling shows Biden and Trump are close when it comes to support from such voters.