Trump warns GOP to not erode his tax cuts

Former President Trump on Tuesday warned Senate Republicans against reversing the tax cuts enacted during his presidency as Democrats seek to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations to finance their spending priorities.

“Republicans in the U.S. Senate must not in any way, shape, or form increase taxes that were won in the TRUMP TAX CUT, the largest in the history of our Country,” Trump said in a statement. “It’s what made our economy grow and great.”

Republicans are unlikely to back tax hikes to pay for Democratic spending priorities regardless of what Trump says, but the ex-president does continue to exert power over the House and Senate GOP, even with a lower profile because of his suspension on Facebook and ban from Twitter.

Trump in 2017 signed into law legislation that lowered individual income tax rates and also slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Republicans argue that the tax cuts helped contributed to the strong pre-pandemic economy, but Democrats argue that they did not have much of an impact on the economy and largely benefited businesses and high-income households.

President Biden and congressional Democrats are seeking to pass two major economic packages later this year: a bipartisan infrastructure package that would not be financed by undoing parts of the Trump tax law, and a Democratic-only package with spending in areas such as child care and education that would be financed in part by rolling back the 2017 tax cuts for corporations and wealthy individuals.

Democrats argue that their spending proposals will help to make the economy stronger than it was prior to the coronavirus pandemic and will bolster the middle class. They argue that the Biden administration’s proposed tax increases would lead to wealthy individuals and corporations paying their “fair share.”

But Trump argued that Democrats’ spending proposals would hurt the economy and said Republicans should push back against Democrats’ efforts to increase taxes.

“The tax cuts were a great achievement of the Trump Administration and the Republican Party. More importantly, they were a great victory for our Nation,” Trump said. “Do not increase them one penny. Republicans must learn to fight these vicious, Radical Left Democrats who are destroying lives and destroying our Country!”