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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.
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«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
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Democrat swing candidate called Biden’s border handling ‘a huge misstep’ after backing his approach as mayor
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A Democratic candidate is facing scrutiny over an apparent reversal on the southern border as she seeks to flip a battleground House seat this year.
Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti recently criticized former President Joe Biden’s handling of the southern border, calling it «a huge misstep» and «really terrible» during a March podcast appearance.
The House hopeful, however, did not appear to publicly criticize the administration’s border policies when Biden was president.
Cognetti, who has served as the mayor of Biden’s hometown since 2020, is vying to unseat freshman Rep. Rob Bresnahan in November’s midterm elections. The Northeastern Pennsylvania contest promises to be one of the most competitive House elections this year.
JAMES TALARICO SAYS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WAS CONVINCED BORDER SECURITY WAS ‘RACIST’
Former President Joe Biden speaks to a crowd during a fundraising event with the South Carolina Democratic Party at the Columbia Museum of Art on February 27, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina. The event marked the sixth anniversary of Biden’s presidential primary win in the early voting state of South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
Cognetti’s recent messaging criticizing Biden comes as some Democrats have largely pivoted toward the center on border security after the party’s messaging fell flat in 2024.
When Cognetti called for «better control at our borders» during a September 2021 interview with a local outlet, she did not appear to hold the Biden administration responsible for the problem.
In August 2023, Cognetti co-signed a letter with a handful of Pennsylvania mayors appearing to approve of the Biden administration’s approach to the border.
«You are working to bring more order to the southern border with a combination of strategies,» the group wrote to Biden, adding that he had «rightfully promised» to tie border security with expanding pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants living in the United States.
A spokesperson for Cognetti said the mayor had been consistent in urging Biden to secure the border during his presidency.
«Like a lot of Northeastern Pennsylvanians, she has seen what the scourge of Fentanyl has done to our community and has said that President Biden didn’t do enough to secure the southern border,» the spokeswoman said, adding that Cognetti is «no stranger to calling out politicians from either political party when they get it wrong.»
JOSH SHAPIRO KNOCKS BIDEN RECORD, SAYS DEMOCRATS FAILED TO DELIVER RESULTS AMERICANS COULD ‘SEE OR FEEL’
Scranton, Pennsylvania mayor Paige Cognetti speaks at a Safer America rally. President Joe Biden visited Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to discuss his plan to reform gun control. During his speech, he touted beating the NRA. Biden is visiting cities for his Safer America plan. (Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Cognetti also advocated for a more lenient approach to immigration when Biden was president, arguing immigrants, including those who entered the U.S. illegally, «contribute greatly to our cultural and economic growth.»
The 2023 letter to Biden that Cognetti signed urged the president to grant and expand legal protections to Venezuelan, Honduran, Salvadoran and Nicaraguan nationals living in the United States.
Cognetti, who became mayor in 2020, also called for mass amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants during the onset of Biden’s presidency in July 2021. She warned that failure to deliver pathways to citizenship could become a «national security issue,» The Center Square reported.
«If we don’t do this now, we will start to erode in our strength and that becomes a national security issue,» Cognetti told reporters.
Bresnahan said Cognetti’s support for mass amnesty would make the district less safe and accused her mayoral tenure of resulting in a Scranton crime spike in a statement to Fox News Digital.
«Mayor Paige Cognetti’s soft-on-crime policies have already led to a spike in violence in Scranton, and her support for legalizing every illegal immigrant in the country will only make things worse, especially in her city where she downplays homicides and gang violence and wants to disarm the police,» Bresnahan said.
Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., arrives for a House Republican Conference caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
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A spokesperson for Cognetti fired back that the mayor has a «proven track record» of investing in local law enforcement and said she has overseen a decrease in violent crime.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the swing contest as «Lean Republican.»
midterm elections, immigration, local, migrant crime, biden brink
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Giro en las negociaciones: Pakistán le pide a Donald Trump ampliar el plazo para Irán y a Teherán a que abra el estrecho de Ormuz por dos semanas
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Iran’s UN ambassador takes swipe at Trump in final hours before Strait of Hormuz deadline
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Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations took a swipe at President Donald Trump on Tuesday hours before Trump’s deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, calling one of the president’s posts on Truth Social «deeply irresponsible» and «profoundly alarming.»
Trump has given the Iranian regime until 8 p.m. ET to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a key waterway — or face strikes against its power plants and bridges.
In a post Tuesday morning, Trump said, «A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,» and, «I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.»
«Today the President of the United States again resorted to language that is not only deeply irresponsible but profoundly alarming, declaring that, quote, ‘the whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back,’ unquote,» Amir-Saeid Iravani said at U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday afternoon.
RUSSIA, CHINA VETO UN RESOLUTION AIMED AT REOPENING STRAIT OF HORMUZ, HOURS BEFORE TRUMP DEADLINE
Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s U.N. ambassador, left, and President Donald Trump. (Timothy Clary/AFP via Getty Images; Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
«It is regrettable and alarming that while in full view of the international community, the President of the United States shamelessly and brazenly issues threats to destroy all civilian infrastructure in Iran, including bridges, power plants and energy facilities, by setting a deadline and openly reveals this intent to commit vile crimes and crimes against humanity,» Iravani added.
The White House, when asked by Fox News Digital for reaction, said, «The Iranian regime has committed egregious human rights abuses against its own citizens for 47 years, just murdered tens of thousands of protestors in January, and has indiscriminately targeted civilians across the region in order to cause as much death as possible throughout this conflict.»
CHINA AIDING IRAN MISSILE PROGRAM AMID US-ISRAELI STRIKES, REPORTS SAY
A satellite image shows the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime passage connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, vital for global energy supply. (Amanda Macias/Fox News Digital)
«As President Trump said today, Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and the Iranian people welcome the sound of bombs because it means their oppressors are losing. The President will always stand with innocent civilians while annihilating the terrorists responsible for threatening our country and the entire world with a nuclear weapon,» White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly added. «Greater destruction can be avoided if the regime understands the seriousness of this moment and makes a deal with the United States.»
Trump also said Tuesday, «now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?»
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«We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World,» the president added. «47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!»
presidential, conflicts, donald trump, war with iran, iran
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