In 2017, as he came into office for his first term, President Trump made a key decision that proved disastrously wrong: He gave priority to efforts to repeal or reform Obamacare.
The tax cuts, which ultimately did not pass until the end of the year (December 20, 2017) could wait until later. Healthcare reform came first.
The rest, unfortunately, is history. The Obamacare changes never passed and the months of 2017 ticked by with no tax cut.
By the time the cuts passed, it was too late to make much of a difference in the economy before the midterm elections. Trump lost the House as Democrats scored a 40-seat gain. And the stage was set for Trump's 2020 re-election defeat.
Fortunately, the president has avoided repeating his error and has jammed through the House — and likely the Senate — his “big beautiful bill” (BBB) making the 2017 tax cuts permanent and adding new popular tax cuts exempting tips, overtime, and Social Security benefits from personal income taxes.
And he passed the bill in the House, despite a razor-thin majority, by Memorial Day! Now — if the Senate passes the bill — he can confront the 2026 Congressional election likely bolstered by a good economy.
Coupled with his amazing progress in curbing illegal immigration, deporting those already here, and repealing key aspects of the woke social agenda, he should have clear sailing in 2026.
Trump pollster John McLaughlin bitterly recalls how his advice was ignored at a White House meeting early in 2017 and the tax cuts were shelved until the end of the year.
Now, Trump faces a delicious question: how to ride the good economy he will now get. The Harvard-Harris Poll recorded its most optimistic level in four years as 51% rated the economy as strong.
And the proportion of Americans saying inflation is the main problem is down by 5 points. Now, for the first time since 2021, 35% say their personal financial situation is better, a rise of 5 points — and the tax cut is not even law yet!
He should use the extra revenues he will get from his new tariffs, land sales in the West, and the cuts in Medicaid and Medicare drug costs his new “most favored nation” will trigger to pass the big beautiful bill part 2.0 (BBB 2.0). He should use the roughly $1 trillion in new revenue and reduced spending he can expect to slash personal and corporate income taxes in the US, making our country a tax haven.
His blanket 10% universal tariff should get him about $400 billion in new revenues ($4.8 trillion in imports in 2025 x 10%) and the increased tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada will produce hundreds of billions more. Land sales and drug price reform should raise the take in new revenues to over a trillion dollars.
Imagine how deeply that money could cut personal income taxes (that yielded about $2.4 trillion last year). It could be enough to exempt those making under $150,000 per year from any income taxes at all!
It's time for Trump to think big … something he is awfully good at!
Dick Morris is a former presidential adviser and political strategist. He is a regular contributor to Newsmax TV. Read Dick Morris' Reports — More Here.