U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing-in ceremony of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 6, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Friday tepidly backed the idea of raising taxes on the richest Americans, while openly wrestling with the politics of such a move and suggesting that his fellow Republicans should “probably” oppose it.
Trump’s public deliberation on social media came after he reached out to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., about adding a tax hike on the highest earners to the major tax and spending bill that the GOP aims to pass this year.
It’s the latest signal that Trump — whose agenda leans heavily on what he calls the “one, big, beautiful bill” passing through a divided Congress — is willing to buck the traditional Republican orthodoxy on taxing the rich.
Trump in the Truth Social post Friday morning said he “and all others” would “graciously” accept “even a ‘TINY’ tax increase for the RICH” for the benefit of “lower and middle income workers.”
“The problem with even a “TINY” tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming,”Read my lips,” the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election. NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election! In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I’m OK if they do!!!” — Donald Trump, Truth Social post
But “the problem” with that idea, he wrote, “is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming, ‘Read my lips,’ the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election.”
Trump was referring to then-candidate George H.W. Bush’s 1988 campaign promise that he would not raise taxes as president. Bush’s eventual failure to keep that promise created a major target for his political opponents, and was seen as a factor in his loss in the 1992 election.
Trump’s post disputed that history. “NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election!” he wrote.
“In any event, Republicans should probably not do it,” Trump added.
But then, apparently reversing himself, he wrote, “I’m OK if they do!!!”
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.