Some members of the Republican party are advocating for increased taxes on millionaires, but President Donald Trump has effectively halted any such efforts.
According to Forbes, the 78-year-old President, with a net worth of $5.1 billion, has ignited controversy by providing a contentious justification for his opposition to taxing millionaires more heavily.
Trump himself has been embroiled in a tax controversy, as his financial records were made public through a court order, revealing that he paid no taxes in 2020.
In 2016, the year he was elected president, Trump contributed only $750 to the nation’s infrastructure. He paid the same amount the following year and $1 million in his third year.
In 2022, the Trump Organization was found guilty of tax fraud in a case presented by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which revealed significant mismanagement in the financial practices of Trump’s business.
The organization was accused of engaging in an illegal scheme by top executives to evade personal income taxes. This involved receiving off-the-books benefits like rent-free apartments and luxury vehicles.
Trump was not personally on trial, although prosecutors indicated that they believed he was aware of the practices.
When questioned by a reporter in the Oval Office about supporting a millionaire tax, he responded: “I think it would be very disruptive because a lot of the millionaires would leave the country. You know, in the old day, they left the States, they go from one state to the other. Now, with transportation so quick and so easy, they leave countries.”
“You’ll lose a lot of money if you do that, and other countries that have done that have lost a lot of people. They lose their wealthy people, which would be bad because their wealthy people pay the tax,” he added.
The question arose as some Republicans were contemplating raising the top tax rate for millionaires by up to three percent, potentially increasing it from the current 37 percent to between 39 and 40 percent.
Reactions on Twitter to Trump’s comments included one user who wrote: “If taxing the rich makes them leave, we finally found an affordable deportation strategy.”
Another expressed: “No, no they won’t. If they wanted to live in other countries they would. The reason they live in the US is for the defense we have, the security, and the access to the US economy.”
A third commenter added: “Millionaires leaving because of taxes? Great, more room for people who actually believe in investing in the country, not just extracting from it.”