Trump said he would “do that right away, first thing in office”, and noted in prepared remarks that he would seek legislation in Congress to make the change. “You do a great job of service, you take care of people and I think it’s going to be something that really is deserved.”
Trump has previously pledged to make permanent the Republican-passed individual tax cuts that he signed into law in 2017 but which expire at the end of 2025. Tax experts estimate that doing so would raise US deficits by some US$4 trillion over a decade compared to current forecasts.
As current law requires, tipped employees must report their tips as income. Eliminating this would add further to deficits without new revenues elsewhere.
Trump also continued to hammer Biden on illegal immigration at the southern border, a theme emphasised at a town hall in Arizona, another battleground state, telling supporters there about his plans to curb illegal immigration and blaming issues at the southern border on Biden.
The rally took place amid blistering heat that reached 100-degrees Fahrenheit (37.7-degrees Celsius), according to the National Weather Service.
Alex Maldonado, a 50-year-old father of three, said he was worried about the heat but wanted to come out to support Trump, for whom he plans to vote a third time. He said he feels Biden has failed in handling inflation, the southern border and crime.
“I tried to give him [Biden] a chance in 2020,” said Maldonado, a military veteran who works security at a Las Vegas casino. “But everything in life has been made harder.”
For days, Las Vegas residents have been coping with unusually high temperatures, part of a heatwave scorching the US Southwest. The National Weather Service lifted its excessive heat warning for the area, however, on Saturday evening before the event.
In addition to the misting machines, the campaign has set up cooling stations. At Trump’s event on Thursday, several people who had queued up outside in extreme heat had to be taken to hospital for treatment.
Rebecca Gill, a political-science professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, said she was sceptical that polls were fully capturing where voters will be in a few months, given that many are not yet paying attention to the race.
Gill said she did not think Trump’s criminal conviction has fully sunk in with voters and could deter some moderate Republicans from backing him. In addition, a proposed amendment to enshrine access to abortion in the state constitution would, if it makes it on to the ballot, be likely to boost Democratic turnout.
“I think that [Nevada] is 100 per cent still in play,” Gill said.
Sunday’s rally comes on the heels of a three-day fundraising push by Trump that included stops in San Francisco and Beverly Hills, where he raised millions of dollars from technology executives and other donors.