WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said his policies, like no tax on tips and no tax on overtime, which tens of millions of Americans are claiming this tax season, show that the Republican Party is now the party of the working class.
Trump’s comments came in response to a question from Breitbart News on the South Lawn of the White House before he departed for Las Vegas, Nevada, for a No Tax on Tips roundtable.
“Do your policies, like no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, show that the Democrat Party is no longer the party of the working class, and the Republican Party under your leadership is?” Breitbart News asked.
“I love this question,” Trump responded.
“Yes, the Democrats don’t know what they’re doing. They want to tax everybody out of business. They want men playing in women’s sports. They don’t want voter ID. They don’t know what they’re doing,” he said. “We’ve had an unbelievable run, and the people getting their tax returns, and they’re coming back, and they’re ending up getting [$5,000, $6,000] $7,000 more than they thought possible.”
The tax deductions for tips and overtime are policies enacted under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which also includes deductions on loan payments for American-assembled cars and Social Security deductions for certain seniors.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted at Wednesday’s press briefing that 53 million Americans have claimed at least one of the president’s signature tax exemptions from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
According to the White House, as of Wednesday, over six million Americans had claimed the no tax on tips deduction, more than 25 million claimed the overtime deduction, and over 30 million seniors claimed the Social Security deduction.
Bessent said that he is regularly thanked by wait staff around D.C. for the policies, in response to a question from Breitbart News.
“I think with service workers, I may be the most popular cabinet secretary in D.C. because when I show up, doormen—not so much bartenders—but waiters, waitresses, they all say thank you for no taxes on tips,” he said. “Again, I was in a diner up in Westchester County, and… this is a home run in terms of what’s happening with these folks.”
“And what we can’t tell you yet, and we will be able to provide data at a later date, that 52 million is how many have used at least one of those. So we expect that there are probably… filers who have used at least more than one of those four signature things,” he said, emphasizing the policies are “America First.”
“Hard-working Americans keeping more of their money, just like with our small businesses,” he added. “If we go back and look, when you hear the left talk about ‘This was a tax cut for millionaires and billionaires,’ they wanted to raise the tax rate for everyone making more than $500,000. That is a small business killer,” he concluded.
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