INTERNACIONAL
Trump’s tax hike proposal is ‘déjà vu’ of George H. W. Bush’s ‘read my lips’ moment, experts say
Americans lambasted President George H. W. Bush for infamously vowing on stage at the 1988 Republican National Convention not to raise taxes on Americans, then supporting a tax hike as president two years later.
History could repeat itself as President Donald Trump this week signaled his support for congressional Republicans raising taxes to accomplish the ambitious goals of his «big, beautiful bill,» according to experts.
«My opponent won’t rule out raising taxes, but I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes, and I’ll say no. And they’ll push and I’ll say no. And they’ll push again, and I’ll say to them: ‘Read my lips: no new taxes,’» then-Vice President Bush vowed at the 1988 convention, before raising taxes two years later with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990.
While acknowledging the political backlash his fellow Republican faced, Trump signaled in a Truth Social post on Friday his own willingness to raise taxes on Americans, following reports confirmed by Fox News Digital that the president is considering raising the tax rate on individuals making $2.5 million or more by 2.6%, from 37% to 39.6%.
TRUMP CONSIDERS TAX HIKE ON AMERICANS MAKING $2.5 MILLION OR MORE PER YEAR
Political experts compared President Donald Trump, right, to President George H. W. Bush after Trump signaled his support for a small tax hike. (Pool/Getty Images)
«The problem with even a ‘TINY’ tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming, ‘Read my lips,’ the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election. NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election! In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I’m OK if they do!!!» Trump said.
WHITE HOUSE QUIETLY FLOATS MILLIONAIRE TAX HIKE PROPOSAL IN CONGRESS AS GOP LEADERS SIGNAL OPPOSITION
Ross Perot, the late billionaire Texas businessman and philanthropist, ran an independent campaign as a third-party candidate in the 1992 presidential election, winning an historic 19% of the popular vote.
As Trump suggested, the political fallout of raising taxes contributed to Bush losing re-election to President Bill Clinton in 1992. Democrats slammed Bush in campaign ads for walking back his word as conservative Republicans criticized the president for being out of step with the party’s traditional tax policies.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich led Republican criticism of Bush’s tax hike proposal, and Gingrich has urged Trump to stand down on raising taxes since rumors the administration was floating a small tax hike first swirled.
TRUMP’S FIRST VICE PRESIDENT URGES HIS OLD BOSS AGAINST RAISING TAXES ON WEALTHY AMERICANS
Gingrich recently told Larry Kudlow on FOX Business that Trump is a Ronald Reagan Republican, not a Bush Republican, and raising taxes would be an «act of destruction.»
«It would absolutely shatter his coalition,» Gingrich said. «It would mean the entire conservative movement would rise in rebellion, and it would mean every small business in the country would start recalculating who they are going to lay off, if they are even going to stay in business. It would make no sense at all.»
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is leading ongoing budget negotiations for Trump’s «big, beautiful bill.» (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Negotiations are ongoing among House Republicans to finalize Trump’s «big, beautiful bill,» which is expected to include an extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and fulfill campaign promises, including no tax on tips, overtime or Social Security.
Republican politicians and pundits have joined Gingrich’s critique of Trump’s potential tax hike, arguing Trump is repeating the same mistakes as Bush.
«[House] Speaker [Mike] Johnson and Republican members of Congress must have experienced collective déjà vu when President Trump urged Congress to raise taxes,» New England College President Wayne Lesperance, a veteran political scientist and political historian, told Fox News Digital.
«Harkening back to the infamous ‘Read my lips’ pledge made by George H. W. Bush at the 1988 GOP Convention, today’s Republicans must be nervous at the president’s change on what is a sacrosanct issue for the party — tax cuts. Interestingly, George H. W. Bush’s decision to break his pledge was surrounded by notably different circumstances,» Lesperance added.
In this Feb. 11, 1991, file photo, President George H. W. Bush talks to reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., after meeting with top military advisors to discuss the Persian Gulf War. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)
But Lesperance reminded Republicans, who currently control the House and Senate, that Democrats could gain an edge in the 2026 midterms if tax hikes prove to be as unpopular among Republicans as they were in 1992.
«Facing a Democratically controlled Congress, Bush reneged on his pledge as a compromise to reduce the deficit and pass the 1990 budget agreement. Bush’s decision to compromise on taxes is widely credited with costing him his bid for re-election. As Speaker Johnson and Republican members of Congress look ahead to midterm elections, there must be collective worry that President Trump’s shifting position on taxes will cost them at the polls,» Lesperance said.
Longtime Republican consultant David Carney, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, said the move by Bush «was probably the single most detrimental thing to his re-election.»
Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York on Oct. 27, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
Carney, who served in the elder Bush’s White House and worked on his presidential campaigns, told Fox News «the deal he cut was excellent. He cut spending, balanced out the taxes.»
But Carney emphasized «all that’s inside baseball and the reality is it was a great opportunity for people from the right and the left to make hay out of it, and it was absolutely hurtful.»
However, fiscal conservatives remain optimistic that Trump won’t raise taxes, despite the president softening to the idea on social media on Friday morning.
«President Trump campaigned on not raising taxes, and we are confident that’s exactly what he’ll do,» Club for Growth President David McIntosh told Fox News Digital.
When reached for comment about the Bush comparison, the White House pointed to press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments during the White House briefing on Friday.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
«The president wants tax cuts, the largest tax cuts in history,» Leavitt said. «He wants to extend his historic tax cuts from 2017, and he wants to see all the other tax priorities,» including no tax on tips, overtime or Social Security.
«The president has said he himself personally would not mind paying a little bit more to help the poor and the middle class and the working class in this country. I think, frankly, that’s a very honorable position. But again, these negotiations are ongoing on Capitol Hill, and the president will weigh in when he feels necessary,» she added.
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Politics,Donald Trump,Taxes,Remembering George H. W. Bush
INTERNACIONAL
La inflación en Estados Unidos registra su mayor salto en dos años por la guerra en Oriente Medio
Trump tells Europe to ‘get your own oil’ as Iran conflict fuels shortages
President Trump intensifies pressure on Iran with joint US-Israel strikes, releasing new video of attacks on nuclear sites in Isfahan. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo states the Iranian regime’s behavior must change. FBI Detroit Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan reveals the Michigan synagogue attack on March 12 was Hezbollah-inspired, raising domestic terror concerns amid DHS funding disputes.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
With Iran increasingly isolated among its Gulf neighbors, recent reports say Tehran has been deepening its ties in the South Caucasus with the Republic of Georgia.
The former Soviet republic, which was until recently seen as an aspiring European Union and potential NATO member candidate, has slowly moved closer to Tehran.
«Iran has built a vast influence infrastructure in Georgia, which includes entities sanctioned by the U.S. government for links to extremism and viewed in Washington as fronts for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),» Giorgi Kandelaki, former member of the Georgian Parliament, told Fox News Digital.
IRAN BACKLASH FORCES GULF ALLIES TOWARD WASHINGTON AS REGIONAL TENSIONS RISE
An anti-war activist holds an Iranian flag during a march organized by Stop the War Coalition, calling for an end to hostilities amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in London on March 7, 2026. (Jack Taylor/Reuters)
Kandelaki, co-author of a recent report with the Hudson Institute titled Georgia’s Iranian Turn: Tehran’s Rapid Expansion of Influence in a Once-Committed U.S. Ally, said that Tbilisi’s turn toward Iran is bad for Georgians but also bad for U.S. interests in the region.
«Georgia has an overwhelmingly pro-U.S. public opinion committed to Western values with it also being viewed as a traditional U.S. ally in Washington. This reality presents a terrible precedent and reversing this trajectory is in the interest of both the U.S. but also Georgian society,» he added.
While Georgia has remained diplomatically neutral, the Hudson report details the budding ties between the two countries and how Iran uses Georgia as a network for intelligence infrastructure, penetrating Georgia’s religious, educational and cultural institutions to impact society.
BLOODY NYC KHAMENEI VIGIL REVEALS ANTI-US PROTEST NETWORK LINKED TO IRAN
Supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party attend a rally in the center of Tbilisi, Georgia, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Shakh Aivazov/AP)
As far back as 2007, Iran opened the Georgian branch of Al-Mustafa University, which is considered one of Iran’s main arms for the dissemination of Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s ideology abroad, according to United Against a Nuclear Iran.
The U.S. Treasury Department stated in 2020 that Iran’s IRGC-Quds Force uses Al-Mustafa University in Georgia as an international recruitment network for Iran and acts as a conduit for the Islamic Republic’s ideological and security interests.
«Al-Mustafa has facilitated unwitting tourists from Western countries to come to Iran, from whom IRGC-Qud’s Force members sought to collect intelligence,» the Treasury Department said. It also said that the university facilitated student exchanges with foreign universities to develop intelligence sources.
RUSSIA ALLEGEDLY SHARING SATELLITE INTELLIGENCE ON US BASES WITH IRAN, WORLD LEADER CLAIMS
A portrait of the late Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sits at the entrance to the Iranian embassy in Tbilisi on March 6, 2026. (Vano Shlamov / AFP via Getty Images)
GEORGIAN DEMONSTRATORS WATCH IRAN CLOSELY AS THEIR OWN PROTESTS GRIND ON
A report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies estimated the university’s annual budget is $100 million and has trained tens of thousands of emissaries across the world who spread Iran’s revolutionary ideology.
Iran has utilized sympathetic Georgians to commit international crimes to advance its domestic agenda.
While no links have ever been made with the Tbilisi government, a Georgian national, Agil Aslanov, who had ties to organized crime, was reportedly recruited by the Quds Forces to assassinate a prominent Jewish leader in Azerbaijan in 2022. In another case in 2025, Georgian national Polad Omarov was indicted in federal court in New York City and sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempting to assassinate prominent Iranian activist Masih Alinejad, a vocal critic of the Islamic Republic’s use of violence against peaceful protesters.
Georgia once made significant inroads to foster political and security ties with the United States following the Rose Revolution in 2003, becoming a bedrock of regional security in the Black Sea region. After decades of Soviet rule, Georgia aligned itself with the United States, contributing to missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and eventually signed a Strategic Partnership Charter with the United States in 2009.
In this photo taken from video released by Georgian Dream Party on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze speaks after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia. (Georgian Dream Party/AP)
Tbilisi’s ties with Tehran have been expanded under the pro-Russia Georgian Dream party that took power in 2012. That bond, according to analysts, has tightened after Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili finished her six-year term in office in 2024 and was replaced by Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was chosen as her successor by a newly established electoral college reportedly dominated by Georgian Dream supporters.
INSIDE IRAN’S MILITARY: MISSILES, MILITIAS AND A FORCE BUILT FOR SURVIVAL
Kavelashvili’s installment followed parliamentary elections in Oct. 2024 marred by some irregularities, according to the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi, in which the Georgian Dream declared victory.
A billboard depicting Iran’s supreme leaders since 1979: (L to R) Ayatollahs Ruhollah Khomeini (until 1989), Ali Khamenei (until 2026), and Mojtaba Khamenei (incumbent) is displayed above a highway in Tehran on March 10, 2026. Iran marked the appointment of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father as its supreme leader on March 9, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
Leadership ties between both countries have steadily grown since the Georgian Dream’s disputed 2024 parliamentary victory.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze visited Iran in May 2024 for the funeral of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter accident, and again in July to attend the inauguration of Iran’s current president, Masoud Pezeshkian, where Iranian news agencies reported both leaders praised the growing relationship between the two countries.
WHO ACTUALLY RUNS IRAN RIGHT NOW? THE KEY POWER PLAYERS AS TRUMP CLAIMS TALKS TO ‘TOP’ OFFICIAL
Many Georgian companies are also importing oil and petroleum products from Iran, a key economic lifeline for the regime and its regional war efforts, according to Georgian NGO Civic IDEA. In 2024, Iranian oil export revenue was approximately $43 billion, which accounts for roughly 57% of Iran’s total export revenue.
Iranian flags fly as fire and smoke from an Israeli attack on Sharan Oil depot rise, following Israeli strikes in Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2025. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA)
According to Civic IDEA, between 2022 and 2025, 72 companies registered in Georgia imported Iranian oil and petroleum, including eight inked to donors of the ruling Georgian Dream party, boosting Iran’s revenue stream even while heavily sanctioned by Western nations.
«Georgia has become Iran’s primary sanctions-evasion hub . . . funneling hard currency back to Tehran’s war machine and the IRGC through specific schemes in oil imports,» Nicholas Chkhaidze, national security and strategic communications analyst based in Tbilisi, told Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Chkhaidze said these Georgian companies that import Iranian oil pay in cash and can bypass international banking sanctions.
«The scale is massive, as Tehran uses the revenue from these schemes to fund its regional operations,» Chkhaidze claimed.
Telephone and email requests for comment sent to the government of Georgia were not returned. A spokesman for Iran’s mission to the United Nations would not comment on the relations between the two countries.
war with iran, iran, sanctions, russia, national security, the european union
INTERNACIONAL
Streamer who said Rick Scott should be ‘killed’ invited to Yale as lawmaker demands funding cut
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A Senate Republican wants federal funding revoked from Yale for a forthcoming speech from a controversial streamer who once called for him to be «killed.»
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., blasted an upcoming event at the Ivy League university featuring Twitch streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker, who has become a flashpoint for Democrats and fodder for conservatives because of his views and alignment with the far-left of the party.
Piker, who has come under fire for his previous comments that «America deserved 9/11» and for excusing sexual violence committed on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel, is set to appear at the Yale Political Union for an event dubbed «Resolved: End the American Empire» Tuesday.
SENATE GOP VOWS TO ‘GO IT ALONE’ ON ICE FUNDING AS DEMS DOUBLE DOWN ON SHUTDOWN
«This is WILD,» Scott said on X. «I spoke at the Yale Political Union last year on why we need to buy made in America products. Now, they are hosting a guy who said I should be killed.»
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., blasted Yale for hosting far-left streamer Hasan Piker, who once said that the lawmaker should be «killed» when Republicans were negotiating cuts to Medicaid. (Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Photo by Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
«Yale receives billions from the federal government — President Trump and Congress need to IMMEDIATELY revoke it,» he continued. «An elite private university that hosts an antisemite who says a Senator should be killed, capitalists should be killed, and the U.S. deserved 9/11, shouldn’t get ONE CENT from taxpayers.»
The Yale Political Union did not respond to a request for comment on Scott’s push to nix funding for the university.
Scott and Piker have had a run-in, indirectly, before.
MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT DEFENDS APPEARING WITH HASAN PIKER, DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM PODCASTER’S CONTROVERSIAL REMARKS
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, founded in 1701. (Fox News)
When Republicans were crafting President Donald Trump’s «big, beautiful bill» in 2025, Piker said during a stream — in reaction to comments from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., that Republicans were targeting Medicaid fraud — that Scott should be killed.
«The reason why I’m saying, if you cared about Medicare or Medicaid fraud, you would kill Rick Scott is because — and not make him a prominent part of the Republican Party — is because he, to this day, is still also known as committing the largest Medicare fraud in U.S. history,» Piker said.
At the time, Republicans were trying to include several provisions in the budget reconciliation process that they pitched as reforms to Medicaid designed to cut costs and root out fraud in the system.
SQUAD MEMBER SUMMER LEE CALLS ‘UPPER CLASS’ THE ‘ENEMY’ AT EL-SAYED RALLY
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to address the nation from the Cross Hall of the White House on April 1, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)
A provider rate crackdown; denying states Medicaid funding for having illegal immigrants on the benefit rolls; preventing illegal immigrants from participating in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP); and preventing Medicaid and CHIP funding from going toward gender-affirming care were all on the table.
However, those provisions were gutted from the bill for not complying with the strict guardrails that dictate the reconciliation process. Still, Republicans were able to include stringent work requirements for the healthcare program.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Scott’s office didn’t comment on Piker’s Medicare fraud accusation but told Fox News Digital that «no Democrat elected official calls this guy out and the press seems to give all the Democrats a pass for actively campaigning with him.»
Piker’s management team and Yale did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
health care executive, campus controversy, republicans, senate elections
Apareció el amante secreto de Milett Figueroa y la fulminó en vivo: “Sabía dónde me estaba metiendo”
La Ciudad anunció un plan de viviendas orientado a familias de clase media y oficiales de la policía
Urtubey: “Estamos garantizando la continuidad de Milei si dispersamos la oposición”
Justicia argentina ordena prueba ambiental en caso contra Uruguay por planta de hidrógeno Por EFE
Belgrano vs. Aldosivi: formaciones, hora y dónde ver por tv
Intendentes peronistas protestarán frente a la oficina del ministro Caputo
Mario Kart Tour avanza su siguiente temporada de primavera con ciudades europeas – Nintenderos
Un gobernador presentó un amparo contra la reforma de la Ley de Glaciares y pidió suspender su aplicación
Melania Trump’s forceful Epstein denial draws bipartisan support from lawmakers
Trump blasts Biden admin for releasing illegal immigrant now charged in fatal hammer attack on Florida mother
-
SOCIEDAD16 horas agoMario Kart Tour avanza su siguiente temporada de primavera con ciudades europeas – Nintenderos
-
POLITICA15 horas agoUn gobernador presentó un amparo contra la reforma de la Ley de Glaciares y pidió suspender su aplicación
-
INTERNACIONAL16 horas agoMelania Trump’s forceful Epstein denial draws bipartisan support from lawmakers