las vegas — president Donald Trump He heads to Las Vegas on Thursday to promote the tax cuts He signed the law last year To try to highlight what Republicans see as an economic strength ahead of this year’s election.
Workers who earn tips and overtime see… Greater returns this tax seasonBut those savings and others resulting from the “big, beautiful law” that Trump signed last year have been eroded Due to high gas pricesDriven by the Iran war.
The president’s rare trip to the West comes at a time when Trump is increasingly politically confrontational Pressure to end the war And focusing on a message that will help his party as it attempts to defend its majority in Congress in the midterm elections in November.
On Friday, Trump is scheduled to hold an event in Phoenix with the conservative political group Turning Point USA. But his first stop will be in Las Vegas, where he will hold a roundtable with several police officers who have benefited from the new Tax credits for overtimealong with the barber and casino pit supervisor, who can claim the new Tax breaks on tips.
The average tax refund this year topped $3,400, an increase of about $340 from last year, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.
Trump said he first envisioned “no tax on tips” in Las Vegas, A city full of entertainment It is a financial lifeline and many workers depend on tips from visitors.
But it’s also a city of commuters, including tipped workers who drive to their jobs at the glitzy casinos. The average price of gasoline is $5 a gallon in Las Vegas, up 28% from last year, according to AAA.
Nicholas Delaney, a flight attendant who lives in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, who did not vote for the president in 2024, said he thinks Trump is doing a “terrible” job when it comes to the cost of living. He thought the tip tax break was a good policy, but was concerned about the cost of groceries and gas.
“I have to spend over $100 on a full tank of gas, 13 gallons? That’s crazy,” Delaney said.
Paula Goodman, a waitress at Henderson Casino, said the cost of living is her biggest concern right now, adding that she spends more than $400 a week on groceries for her family.
But Goodman, who voted for the president, said she thinks he’s “doing a very good job” and doesn’t blame him for rising gas prices, which she painted as mere fluctuations. As a bartender, she personally appreciates the tax savings on tips she brings home, she said.
“Every little penny these days is huge,” she said. “You’ve seen diesel, right? $6.11.”
The White House said Trump is focusing on tax cuts, deregulation and boosting US energy production to lower prices, and describes high gas prices as a temporary disruption due to the war in Iran.
White House spokesman Khush Desai said “tens of millions of Americans are benefiting this tax season from the provisions the president signed” in the tax law, saying it shows “how the administration has not lost focus on achieving the affordability agenda at home.”
However, the conflict made things less costly. The Bank of America Institute looked at deposit and spending data and concluded in an analysis released Tuesday that “the average increase in tax refunds could cover the average increase in gasoline spending for at least five months.”
“The sharp rise in gasoline prices seems likely to fully offset the unexpected increase in tax dollars with households,” Kathy Bostiancic, chief economist at Nationwide, an insurance and financial services company, said last week in an analysis, stressing that the refund would likely prevent a sharp decline in consumer spending.
Trump’s tax-break-focused economic message was also overshadowed this week by distractions from the president himself, who angered even some of his supporters when he got into a public fight with the pope and posted a now-deleted photo on social media depicting himself as Jesus.
“Frustration and anxiety are growing every week about whether or not we will be able to retain the House of Representatives next November,” said Ron Bonjean, a GOP strategist among Republicans.
It takes a lot of repetition for a message like promoting a tax bill to reach voters, but Trump’s tendency to drift off to other topics could mitigate that, Bonjean said. trump, Which sometimes dismissed concerns about affordability Bonjean said that as a “scam” and a “sham” of Democrats, he must acknowledge the economic realities people are facing now if he wants to help his party next November.
“He should definitely talk about his plan to reduce high gasoline costs, otherwise he will waste his own message,” Bonjean said. “It wouldn’t make sense to just talk about not taxing tips.”
While the president said he believes the war with Iran will end soon, an agreement to resolve it has not yet been reached, with the United States and Iran still presenting divergent positions.
Trump said Sunday in an interview with Fox News that gas prices “could be the same or maybe a little bit higher” by the midterm elections in November.
By Wednesday, Trump walked back that comment in another interview with Fox News. “I think it will be much lower” before the election, assuming the war will be long over.
“When this is settled, gas prices will go down significantly,” Trump said.
Hours later at the White House, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was less rosy, predicting a drop in gas prices at some point this summer, depending on how negotiations with Iran go.
“I’m optimistic that sometime between June 20 and September 20, we can get $3 gas again,” Besant told reporters.
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Prices reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Josh Bock in Washington contributed to this report.