In a pitch to 12 Senate Democrats on Tuesday, Donald Trump insisted his personal finances will “get killed” if the Republican tax cut bill passes, an assertion the president presumably hoped would sway members of his opposing party.
"My accountant called me and said 'you're going to get killed in this bill,’" Trump told the Democratic senators, according to NBC. The president made the call from South Korea, in an attempt to sway the Congressional lawmakers who are currently presenting a roadblock for his party’s tax bill. According to people who were present for the call, Trump added the only element of the bill that will help him is the repeal of the estate tax.
Trump has repeatedly refused to release his tax returns, so it’s unclear what specific impact the GOP tax plan will have on his personal finances. The president is likewise known to speak in what he refers to as “truthful hyperbole,” and what others refer to as “lies,” so it’s also unclear whether his accountant actually called him to tell him the tax plan would harm him personally.
As NBC reports, Trump’s legislative affairs chief Marc Short and economics adviser Gary Cohn attended the meeting with the Democratic senators, which turned into a “sparring match" over the White House and GOP leaders' bill-crafting process.
Short told NBC News the GOP tax plan does include the repeal of the estate tax, pointing out the administration has “been advocating for the elimination of the death tax for a while.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders likewise confirmed “the president did call in and urged senators to support the bill.”