President Donald Trump stepped back into the debate over tax reform on Wednesday, declaring his plan a boon for American truckers and the middle class.
“We want lower taxes, bigger paychecks, and more jobs for American truckers and American workers,” Trump said in a speech inside an airplane hangar near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
“Nothing gets done in America without the hard working men and women of the trucking industry,” Trump said. “When your trucks are moving, America is growing.”
It was his latest attempt to sell a tax reform package unveiled last month that has yet to secure widespread bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Trump was originally planning to travel once a week to sell the package, but natural disasters and a mass shooting in Las Vegas diverted his attention.
Trump’s plan proposes slashing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%, while lowering the number of individual tax brackets and simplifying the filing process.
The corporate cut, Trump said, would make American firms more competitive. He said the individual reforms would put more money in the pockets of lower and middle class Americans.
He said his wealthy friends, including New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft, had lobbied him to cut taxes for middle class families, claiming such a move would improve the economy overall.
“Give it to the middle class, don’t give it us,” Trump said was his friends’ message. “And that’s what we’re trying so hard to do.”
Trump is eager for a legislative win after his previous efforts with congressional Republicans — including the attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — failed to garner sufficient support.
Details of the tax proposal have yet to be fully determined by Congressional negotiators, including the precise income levels for each tax bracket.
On Wednesday, Trump said lawmakers “better get it passed.”
“We’re going to get those Republicans and maybe a few of those Democrats to raise their hands,” he said.
