Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” likely presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said once he negotiates his tax plan with Democrats, “the taxes for the rich will go up some what.”
Partial transcript as fallows:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Your tax plan is your most substantive and specific proposing out there. You said you believe in raising taxes on the wealthy, including yourself. but your plan gives a massive tax cut to the wealthy. how do you square that?
TRUMP: It gives a massive tax cut to everybody. If you look at Larry Kudlow, he says it’s a great plan. I make deals. I negotiate. I put in a plan that has a massive, massive — bigger than any other candidate. We have to negotiate with congress. I’m not going to be able to say, like President Obama, let’s do an executive order. You can’t continue do it. You’re not supposed to do it. Much of what he’s done will be overturned by the courts. I’m putting in a plan, that’s my maximum plan.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you want taxes on the wealthy to go up or down?
TRUMP: They will go up a little bit. and they may go up, you know.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But they’re going down in your plan.
TRUMP: By the time it’s negotiated, they’ll go up. I’m negotiating with the Demarcates. I’m putting in my optimum plan. It’s going to be negotiated. They’re going to say let’s see what we can do. It will be a negotiation. I’ll try to keep everything. What I really want is lower on business. Business, we’re the highest taxed nation in the world. I want lower in the middle class. The middle class in this country is getting decimated. I’ll fight like hell for that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But people like me and you should pay more?
TRUMP: I don’t mind paying more tax. I’ve done very well over the last ten years.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But under your plan, you pay less.
TRUMP: I’ll be submitting something like what I did in term of concept. It’s a concept, George. it’s a concept. The real concept is lower taxes for business. Lower taxes for the middle class, lower taxes for everybody. Then we’ll start negotiating. I’m not going to put in high taxes or what I necessarily want. I’m going to put in lower than what I want. we’ll negotiate.
STEPHANOPOULOS: In the end, will someone like me or Donald Trump pay more?
TRUMP: I think more. the middle class will pay less. I wouldn’t mind paying more. Business will pay less. The middle class will pay less. The corporate inversion, what is going on is incredible. We have trillions outside the country. By not bringing it back in, that’s—
STEPHANOPOULOS Iit’s something you’ll negotiate with the Democrats, on the trillions that are out there. On the taxes on the wealthy. You’re willing to pay more?
TRUMP: I am. The wealthy are willing to pay more. We’ve had a very god run. We hear about Obama. We have had a good run.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That would be a big change from your plan.
TRUMP: It’s not a change. It’s a negotiation. We have a lot of people that will be negotiating this. they don’t do very well the world — if you look at the United States with tax plans. Not a lot happens. it just sort of stays the same. It’s a quagmire. We’re getting simplification, lower rates, massive simplification. Getting rid of carried interest. It won’t make hedge fund people happy.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You’re getting rid of the loophole. You’re taxing it as regular income. It will go down from 23% to 15%.
TRUMP: By the time it gets negotiated, it will be a different plan. Like have my cards on the table. we’re going submit the optimum. But from a practical standpoint, it will get renegotiated. in my opinion, the taxes for the rich will go up some what.
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