Most analysts agree that the biggest beneficiaries of the GOP’s tax reform bill would be very rich people. Nevertheless, Donald Trump has often insisted on the importance of the bill for the working and middle class, as he did today during a speech in St. Charles, Missouri. Then he made a surprising aside: a special shout-out to the wealthy.
The tax bill includes a gift to rich American families: It phases out tax on inheritance, known as the “estate tax” or the “death tax.” Currently, estate tax only applies to windfalls of over $5.49 million; and just 1 in 700 deaths trigger the tax.
“We want to make it easier for loving families to pass on their life’s work to their children—it’d be nice, it’d be very nice,” Trump said. ”I see people right here, they’re obviously very rich and they love their children.”
“They love their children, they’re very rich, they want to pass on what they have,” the president continued, to the audience’s laughter.
He described Democrats as obstructionists for their “brutal” opposition to removing the estate tax.