Trump asks GOP leaders to end tax perks for billionaire sports owners and hedge funds to cover middle class cuts

WASHINGTON — President Trump asked congressional Republican leaders Thursday to end tax perks for sports team owners and hedge fund managers to pay for his campaign-trail pledges to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security benefits as well as to lift the $10,000 state and local tax deduction cap.“This will be the largest tax cut in history for middle-class, working Americans,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on the White House driveway as Trump, 78, met privately with the GOP leaders in the West Wing.Leavitt, 27, read from a prepared list of Trump’s requests for the Republican-led House and Senate to approve, calling them the administration’s “tax priorities.”“No tax on tips, which is obviously a very public campaign promise that the president made.No tax on seniors’ Social Security, no tax on overtime pay, renewing President Trump’s 2017 middle-class tax cuts.”Continuing to read from the rundown, Leavitt added: “Adjusting the SALT cap; Eliminat[ing] all the special tax breaks for billionaire sports team owners; Clos[ing] the carried interest tax deduction loophole [and] Tax cuts for ‘Made in America’ products.”It’s unclear whether all of the items will be included in pending legislation as House and Senate leaders differ on the best strategy.House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) favors loading Trump’s requests into a massive budget reconciliation package that can pass with a bare majority in both chambers.Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), on the other hand, prefers a separate tax package that would need 60 votes in the upper chamber, meaning seven Democrats would have to vote in favor of allowing the bill to the floor.Trump won the Nov.

5 election with his tax appeals to working-class voters and retirees and he has credited his plan to end taxes on tips with securing victory in Nevada — the first Republican to do so in 20 years.The federal government stands to lose significant incom...