Trump doubles down on possible federal income tax overhaul during Rogan interview: ‘This country can become rich’

Former President Donald Trump doubled down on his plan to consider eliminating federal income taxes by replacing them with tariffs.

During a podcast interview with Joe Rogan released on Friday, Trump stated that the “most beautiful word” is “tariff.”

“It’s more beautiful than love; it’s more beautiful than anything,” Trump told Rogan. “This country can become rich with the use — the proper use — of tariffs.”

‘We were so rich because we were taxing other people for coming in and taking our jobs.’

In 2018, the former president imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum.

When Rogan asked whether he is “serious” about the possible elimination of federal income taxes, Trump responded, “Yeah, sure. Why not?”

Last week, during a town hall segment with Fox News at a barbershop in the Bronx, Trump was asked whether it would be possible to do away with federal income taxes, Blaze News previously reported.

“There is a way,” Trump responded, adding that in the 1890s, the United States relied on tariffs and did not have a federal income tax.

“Now we have income taxes, and we have people that are dying, they’re paying tax, and they don’t have the money to pay the tax,” he continued. “No, there is a way if what I’m planning comes out.”

On Friday, Trump repeated similar comments to Rogan, confirming that it is possible to replace income taxes with tariffs.

He told Rogan, “Our country was the richest, relatively, in the 1880s and 1890s. A president who was assassinated, named [William] McKinley, he was the tariff king.”

“He spoke beautifully of tariffs. His language was really beautiful,” Trump explained. “‘We will not allow the enemy to come in and take our jobs and take our factories and take our workers and take our families unless they pay a big price. And the big price is tariffs.’ And he’d speak like that, but he was right.”

Trump continued, “And then around the early 1900s, they switched over, stupidly, to frankly an income tax. And you know why? Because countries were putting a lot of pressure on America, ‘We don’t want to pay tariffs. Please don’t.'”

Trump stated that foreign countries are controlling U.S. politicians.

“We had a commission meeting in the, I think it was 1887,” he stated. “Think of this problem: We were so rich, we had so much money, we didn’t know what to do. So, they set up a blue-ribbon commission on tariffs, and the sole purpose was what to do with all the money we had. We were so rich because we were taxing other people for coming in and taking our jobs.”

Trump noted that China relies on tariffs.

“If you want to own a factory and sell cars, if you build a factory here or have a factory, they don’t take our cars,” he said of China. “They wouldn’t take our cars. But if you build a plant in China, you can do that.”

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