Trump Signals Openness To Tax Increase On Wealthy To ‘Take Care Of Middle Class’

President Donald Trump signaled in an interview with TIME Magazine that he is open to a tax increase on the wealthy in an effort to “take care of the middle class.”

Earlier in April, Bloomberg reported that Republicans across the House, Senate and White House were drafting up analyses on how to create a new tax bracket for the wealthiest Americans. Trump, sitting down with TIME Magazine to celebrate his first 100 days of his second term, signaled that he may be open to a tax increase. (RELATED: Republicans Weigh Tax Hikes For The Rich In Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful’ Budget Bill)

“Well, I’ll tell ya, I certainly don’t mind having a tax increase, and the only reason I wouldn’t support it is because I saw Bush where they said, where he said, ‘Read my lips,’ and he lost an election. He would have lost it anyway, but he lost an election. He got beat up pretty good. I would be honored to pay more, but I don’t want to be in a position where we lose an election because I was generous, but me, as a rich person, would not mind paying and, you know, we’re talking about very little,” Trump began.

“We’re talking about one point. It doesn’t make that much difference, and yet, I could just see somebody trying to bring that up as a subject, and, you know, say, ‘Oh, he raised taxes.’ Well, I wouldn’t be, really, you know, in the true sense, I wouldn’t. I’d be raising them on wealthy to take care of middle class. And that’s — I love, that. I actually love the concept, but I don’t want it to be used against me politically, because I’ve seen people lose elections for less, especially with the fake news,” he finished.

On Wednesday, Trump had shot down the idea of hiking up taxes on millionaires when asked about it in the Oval Office.

“I think it would be very disruptive because a lot of the millionaires would leave the country,” Trump began.

“In the old days they left states, they’d go from one state to the other. Now with transportation so quick and so easy, they leave countries,” he continued.

Similarly, Speaker Mike Johnson also voiced his opposition on Fox News to the proposal earlier in the week, reasoning that the “party is the group that stands against that traditionally.”

In the House, congressmen were considering a new rate of 40% for taxpayers earning $1 million or more a year, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. At the time of Bloomberg’s April 15th article, a White House official told the outlet that Trump was open to the idea but that the threshold would need to be “far greater” than $1 million.