Donald Trump reached out to Democratic senators with a touching personal plea on why they should support the Republican tax plan:
President Donald Trump called 12 Senate Democrats Tuesday, hoping to sway them in favor of the Republican tax cut bill, and told them he would personally "get killed" financially by the GOP bill. He said the wealthy need a repeal of the estate tax, according to multiple people who were present.
Breaking that down into smaller parts: Trump. Called Democrats. To say he would “get killed.” Unless they help Republicans repeal the estate tax.
The point of Trump’s call actually seemed to be selling the idea that the rest of the tax bill—which includes a top tax rate, and end to the Alternative Minimum Tax, and an easy route to passing personal taxes through shell companies at a greatly reduced rate—wouldn’t do much for Trump. It was only the end to the estate tax that would really help him or at least help Ivanka, Junior, and whoever else was in Trump’s favor at the critical moment. Of course, every independent analysis shows that’s not exactly true.
President Trump could cut his tax bills by more than $1.1 billion, including saving tens of millions of dollars in a single year, under his proposed tax changes, a New York Times analysis has found.
Just getting rid of the AMT would have saved Trump $31 million in a year, based on the last return that managed to creep out into public. But it’s true, the bulk of savings for Trump would only come after something really does kill him.
And why are Democrats supposed to care again? Because the bill has to have something to give … to rich people.
Trump told the Democrats on the phone that he wanted a repeal of the estate tax in the bill because they had to give something to rich people, people in the room said.
Trump did not seem to insist that there had to be something in the bill for other people.
An analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation found that after 2023, people making between $20,000 and $40,000 would see a tax increase. People making $200,000 to $500,000 per year would also see a tax increase after 2023 under the current GOP plan. A repeal of the estate tax would give the wealthy an additional $300 billion dollar tax break.
But then, Trump being only concerned with Trump is nothing new. However, in this case Trump might want to consider that perhaps ending the estate tax really could kill him. After all …
The Kushner Companies, the real estate firm owned by the family of President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, is facing a mountain of a challenge. … the Kushners still must pay roughly $600 million — more than the short-term loans the company has grappled with for a decade — when the mortgage comes due in February 2019.
A big chunk of, say, a $2 billion inheritance, tax free, would come in handy right now.