Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich believes that President Donald Trump has officially axed the idea of raising income taxes on the highest-earning Americans, citing a missive from Trump he said he received.
“It’s pretty clear that that conversation should now be over,” Gringrich said in an interview Tuesday, amid a hot debate among Republicans over whether such a tax hike should be used to help fund Trump’s wide-ranging policy agenda.
Gingrich posted a note on X that he said was from Trump, in which the president appeared to suggest that any tax increase, no matter how small, could doom Republicans’ electoral prospects.
“George Bush said, ‘READ MY LIPS, NO NEW TAXES,’ then proceeded to give a rather small Tax increase, and was obliterated,” the note said, referring to former President George H.W. Bush, who went on to broker a tax hike deal in 1990 with the then-Democratic-controlled Congress. “While I love the idea of a small increase, the Democrats would probably use it against us, and we would be, like Bush, helpless to do anything about it.”
While the note doesn’t explicitly rule out a tax hike on the wealthy, Gingrich interpreted it that way.
“The president’s comments indicate that the idea of raising the income tax is dead, that it doesn’t fit at all with where we’re going,” Gingrich said.
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The comments Gingrich shared come as the GOP has been flirting with a hike in the tax rate on the wealthiest Americans to help finance their party-line border, energy and tax bill. The idea is anathema to many prominent conservatives, including Gingrich, who have long campaigned to prevent tax hikes on Americans across the income spectrum.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other top Republicans have also thrown cold water on the idea.
Nonetheless, deficit hawks in the House, such as Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.), have broached the idea.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) likewise said at a town hall last week that the idea was on a Finance Committee “working sheet” of tax proposals. The increase could help pay for an expansion to the Child Tax Credit, Grassley said.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender has also acknowledged the proposal is on the table.