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Trump urges House Speaker Johnson to raise taxes on wealthiest Americans

By lauraharris // 2025-05-15

• President Donald Trump reportedly urged Speaker Mike Johnson to raise the top individual tax rate from 37 percent to 39.6 percent for incomes over $2.5 million or $5 million for joint filers, while closing the carried interest loophole to fund middle-class tax cuts.
• The proposal aligns with growing Republican populist demands, aiming to offset tax relief for workers (e.g., exempting tips and overtime pay) without cutting Medicaid or nutrition programs.
• Current House Republican plans rely on slashing Medicaid and green energy credits, but moderates resist. Key lawmakers like Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) suggest taxing the wealthy could break the impasse.
• The Trump-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered top rates to 37 percent, but they'll revert to 39.6 percent in 2025 if not renewed. Trump's team sees extending cuts for the rich as politically risky without offsets.
• A senior official warned that renewing tax cuts for the wealthy while cutting Medicaid would be electoral suicide, emphasizing that middle-class Americans would bear the brunt of economic instability if rates rise unchecked.

President Donald Trump has reportedly pressed U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and close the carried interest loophole for Wall Street investors. According to anonymous sources, Trump advocated increasing the top individual tax rate from 37 percent to 39.6 percent for those earning over $2.5 million or $5 million for joint filers, while shielding small businesses in a private phone call with Johnson on May 7. The proposal, which aligns with growing populist demands within the Republican base, aims to offset deeper tax cuts for middle-class workers, including the elimination of taxes on tip income and overtime pay. (Related: Trump Administration considers raising taxes on wealthiest Americans to fund tip wage tax cut.) "This will help pay for massive middle and working-class tax cuts, and protect Medicaid," a separate source said. The current House GOP proposal relies on slashing Medicaid and nutrition assistance programs – a nonstarter for moderate Republicans – while scrapping green energy tax credits. House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX) admitted the impasse. "The spending reduction side of this equation has been the most challenging, which is a sad commentary on my party and my conference. But it's the reality," Arrington said. Moreover, Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), chair of the Ways and Means Committee, hinted that closing loopholes for the rich could bridge the gap.

Trump administration wants to eliminate taxes on tipped wages

The Trump administration has been weighing to raise tax rates for the wealthiest Americans since March to finance its proposal to eliminate taxes on tipped wages. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, a cornerstone of Trump's first term, lowered the top individual income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 37 percent for single filers earning over $609,351 and married couples earning more than $731,201. However, if the law expires at the end of 2024, these rates will revert to pre-2018 levels and the income threshold for the top bracket will drop – impacting roughly one percent of taxpayers. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump proposed further tax relief, including exempting tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits from federal taxes. To offset the cost, a senior White House official suggested that allowing top-earner tax rates to return to pre-2018 levels could be the most politically feasible approach. "If we renew tax cuts for the rich paid for by throwing people off Medicaid, we're gonna get f--king slaughtered," the White House official said. Treasury Secretary-designate Scott Bessent echoed a similar stance about Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 during his senate confirmation in January. He insisted back then that middle- and working-class Americans would suffer the most if the cuts expire. "This is the single most important economic issue of the day," he told Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) at the time. "If we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an economic calamity and, as always with financial instability, that falls on the middle and working-class people." Visit BigGovernment.news for more stories like this. Watch this video about Trump's proposed tax reforms and currency devaluation. This video is from the Brighteon Highlights channel on Brighteon.com.

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Sources include: Yahoo.com NYPost.com 1 NYPost.com 2 NYPost.com 3 Brighteon.com

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