Donald Trump’s voters have high hopes that he’ll boost the economy and protect jobs for those who’ve been left behind after three decades of flat or shrinking paychecks.
They didn’t vote to make the super-wealthy even wealthier.
Even Steve Mnuchin, the Goldman Sachs banker Trump picked to be his treasury secretary, seems to understand this. He promised “no absolute tax cuts for the upper class.”
Yet one of the first priorities of Republicans in Congress is to give an exclusive tax break to multi-millionaires and billionaires. They plan to abolish the estate tax and allow tax loopholes for billionaires to continue.
The estate tax, sometimes derided as a “death tax,” is only paid by households with assets over $11 million. In 2013, 99.8 percent of the population was exempt.
But the 0.2 percent who are subject to the tax are well represented in Donald Trump’s cabinet.
Our first billionaire president has nominated a cabinet that includes two billionaires and at least ten multi-millionaires, whose combined net worth is estimated at over $13 billion. As a group, they’re part of the tiny segment of U.S. society that will personally benefit from such targeted tax cuts for the wealthy.
Under the GOP plan, Mnuchin’s taxes would be cut by $3.3 million a year, according to an analysis by Americans for Tax Fairness. And his heirs would get an extra $160 million if the estate tax is abolished.
Members of Donald Trump’s family would also score big. If Trump has the $10 billion he claims, scrapping the estate tax would net each of his four children an additional $1 billion in inherited wealth.
There’s no credible argument that abolishing this tax on inherited wealth will create jobs or help the economy. It’ll simply be a windfall for the already have-a-lots.
At the root of our problems is a two-tiered tax system in America: one for the privileged and one for everyone else.
The tax system for the bottom 99 percent is hard to play games with: Most of us have taxes taken out of our wages in every paycheck.
The privileged people’s tax system, for those with $10 million or more, includes numerous opportunities for the super-rich to get out of paying their fair share. Wealthy families like the Mnuchins and Trumps hire teams of lawyers, accountants, and estate planners to help them to design escape routes from their tax obligations.
Mnuchin has personally set up several “dynasty trusts” to avoid paying any taxes on his personal estimated fortune of $620 million. According to federal ethics disclosures, he has $32 million in one such trust, including corporate stock, artwork, and a private jet. The primary purpose of these vehicles is to dodge federal estate taxes for generations to come.
When the wealthy dodge taxes, ordinary taxpayers who can’t game the system must pick up the tab for infrastructure, defense, national parks, and servicing the national debt. The super-rich reap the enormous benefits of growing their wealth in U.S. society, but they’re freeloaders when it comes to paying the bills.
Historically, being wealthy hasn’t disqualified a president from being a champion for those with less. There are many examples of “born on third base” presidents: Roosevelt, Kennedy, Bush. The test of leadership is whether they put the country ahead of their own narrow personal financial interests.
For Trump, the estate tax is the first such text.
Making America great doesn’t mean giving booster rockets to multi-generational dynasties of wealth. We need one tax system that’s fair to everyone.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $136,000 in one-time donations and to add 1440 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy