I’m not sure if you were on the phone and it was auto-correcting, but I can’t quite make out what you’re saying.
DT is calling for higher taxes on the wealthy, yes?
“For the wealthy I think frankly it is going to go up and, you know what, it really should go up,”
This seems breathtakingly clear to me.
I think you are saying that Trump said, “Congress could theoretically set the rate higher than I propose.”
I don’t begin to see that at all. He said, “For the wealthy I think frankly it is going to go up and, you know what, it really should go up.”
Yes, he did concede that Congress makes the laws, but he was clearly stating a preference for higher taxes.
BS Spin is spin. He has not changes his tax plan purposed months ago.
I'm not denying he said that. What I'm saying is that he said more, and if you take only that quote and present it as Trump's position, then you are misleading.
CHUCK TODD: Let me move on. Let me move on some issue things. There's a few things that some people think are contradictions, so I want to see if I can pin you down here. The issue of taxes. Your tax plan is one where the biggest beneficiaries are the 0.1 percent when it comes to raw dollars that will be saved among taxes.But then in an interview earlier this week, you seemed to say, "You know what, my tax plan, it's not set in stone. And maybe I'll raise taxes. Maybe I'll actually raise taxes on the rich." So I guess, which is it? Are you willing to raise taxes on 0.1 percent or not--
DONALD TRUMP: It's definitely-- no, no, no. Let me explain how the world works, okay? I think nobody knows more about taxes than I do, and income than I do. But I'll explain how it all works. I come up with the biggest tax cut by far of any candidate. Anybody. And I put it in. But that doesn't mean that's what we're going to get. We have to negotiate.
The thing I'm going to do is make sure the middle class gets good tax breaks. Because they have been absolutely shunned. The other thing, I'm going to fight very hard for business. For the wealthy, I think, frankly, it's going to go up. And you know what, it really should go up. Because the wealthy--
CHUCK TODD: The wealthy need to pay more taxes? What do you define as wealthy, by the way--
DONALD TRUMP: No. No, let me explain-- somebody like me. Let me explain something--somebody like me--let me explain something. I'm putting in a plan, Chuck. I have to negotiate now with senators and congressmen and lots of-- the fact that I put in a plan, it really is a floor. That's what it is. Whether we like it or not.
So I put in my plan. It's quite simple to see. It's a simplification. We lower the number of brackets. We lower the taxes on the middle class, on business. And we lower the taxes on everybody, very substantially. But I have no illusions. I don't think that's going to be the final plan. Because they are going to come to me, including the Democrats and everybody else, they're going to come to me. They're going to want to negotiate. But that's a floor. That's where we're starting.
CHUCK TODD: So is that--
DONALD TRUMP: Now, when it comes time to negotiate, I feel less concerned with the rich than I do with the middle class.
CHUCK TODD: So it sounds like-- should we take that--
DONALD TRUMP: And I feel very concerned at that.
CHUCK TODD: --should we assume that most of your plans, then, we shouldn't take you at your word, as sort of that they're floors? What you just described? That, "You know what, it's my opening statement, but everything is negotiable--"
DONALD TRUMP: It's not a word. Excuse me. Excuse me. It's called life, Chuck. It's not my word, of course. I put in a proposal. You know what they are? They're really proposals. People can say it's a tax plan. It's really a tax proposal. Because after I put it in, and I think you know the Senate and Congress--
CHUCK TODD: Sure. Yeah.
DONALD TRUMP: --you know as much as anybody, they start working with you, and they start fighting. And you know, let's see what happens. But I put in a proposal. Under my proposal, it's the biggest tax cut by far, of any candidate by far. But I'm not under the illusion that that's going to pass. They're going to come to me. They're going to want to raise it for the rich. Frankly, they're going to want to raise it for the rich more than anybody else.
But the middle class has to be protected. The rich is probably going to end up paying more. And business might have to pay a little bit more. But we're giving a massive business tax cut. Remember this, we're the highest taxed nation in the world. But this is a tax-- Chuck, this is a tax proposal--
CHUCK TODD: Wait a minute. Let me stop you there. You just said, "Businesses might pay a little bit more." You just said, "Business might pay a little bit more, but we're going to get 'em a massive tax cut." You just said it within ten words.
DONALD TRUMP: No, no. I didn't say it. Excuse me. I said they might have to pay a little bit more than my proposal, Chuck. I said they might have--
CHUCK TODD: Oh, your proposal. Okay. I just wanted to get that clear.
DONALD TRUMP: --yeah, than my proposal.
CHUCK TODD: Fair enough.
DONALD TRUMP: I'm not talking about more than they're paying now.