WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump staged a food delivery to the White House and is barnstorming the country promoting tax deductions he persuaded Congress to approve last year, but polls reflect indifference to the tax cuts among an electorate that finds taxes still too high.
The fight over perceptions about the tax cuts is expected to play out in the 2026 midterm elections, when the party in charge of the White House traditionally loses seats in Congress. If Republicans lose just a few seats in either the House or Senate, Democrats could regain control of the chambers.
“Every single American at every income level – there’s more money in their pockets this week because of the Republican tax policies,” Trump told a roundtable in Las Vegas on April 16. “We’ve got to win the midterms. If we don’t these policies are going to be taken away from you. The taxes are going to go through the roof.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said 53 million tax filers − 45% of the total through April 12 − had claimed at least one of Trump's four new tax breaks as part of what he called a year of “record refunds for the American people.”
But Bessent acknowledged polls finding 70% of Americans still think taxes are too high. The discontent comes despite the new deductions for tips up to $25,000 a year, overtime up to $12,500, the interest on car loans for American-made cars and on an enhanced portion of Social Security benefits.
