Former President Donald Trump wants to replace federal income tax with import tariffs to fund the government.
In what has been a highly awaited and spoken about podcast appearance, former President and 2024 Presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke about bringing radical financial reform to drive the United States toward prosperity on the Joe Rogan Experience. He plans on abolishing federal income tax outright to replace it with imposing tariffs on imports.
He spoke of the 1890s when former President William McKinley brought such tariffs to introduce a period of prosperity for the country. Trump said such policies must be applied again for their benefits and to fund the government.
Trump told Joe Rogan, “We will not allow the enemy to come in and take our jobs and take our factories and take our workers and take our families unless they pay a big price. And the big price is tariffs.” That statement came when Rogan asked, “Did you just float out the idea of getting rid of income taxes and replacing it with tariffs? We’re serious about that?”
“We were so rich. We had so much money. We didn’t know what to do, so they set up a blue ribbon commission on tariffs. And the sole purpose was what to do with all the money we had,” the former president added.
While Trump maintains the approach would be highly beneficial, critics look at it differently, feeling import tariffs could drive the price of goods up by acting as a hidden tax. Trump’s perspective on the matter revolves more around the tariffs driving up dollar demand and increasing US exports.
This tax overhaul is a core piece of Trump’s economic stance to his voter base. He has iterated eliminating income taxes on components like tips, overtime pay, and social security benefits. Trump is also promising to renew the tax cuts he made happen in 2017, which will end in 2025.
Trump Has Also Spoken About Introducing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve for Financial Reform
As his comments during Rogan’s podcast have made major news, it is not the only radical financial reform he has pushed. Trump has previously spoken about creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve and paying off the country’s debt through the asset. He has mentioned using the Bitcoin seized by the Department of Justice (DoJ) to start paying back the $35 trillion national debt.
Former independent Presidential nominee Robert F Kennedy Jr also made the strategic Bitcoin reserve approach a part of his campaign before dropping out.
