President Trump was supposed to cap his first week since returning to the White House with a speech on Saturday in Las Vegas about an economic plan that he suggested was crucial to his election win.
But despite the massive sign by the stage stating “NO TAX ON TIPS,” any details on how he would make that promise a reality were afterthoughts.
“I have to be honest with you, I’m really here for a different reason,” Mr. Trump told the crowd in a Las Vegas casino. “I’m here to say thank you.”
Rather than focus on his economic plan, Mr. Trump took a victory lap of sorts in front of hundreds of supporters.
He celebrated a series of executive orders that would curtail immigration and others shutting down diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the government. “We got rid of the woke crap,” he said of the D.E.I. moves.
The president also criticized the World Health Organization and talked about his decision to pardon those who rioted on Jan. 6, with a founder of a militia group in attendance. He continued to attack former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., one day after sparring with Democrats during a briefing on recovering from the wildfires in California.
Despite winning the election and nearing the end of his first week in office, Mr. Trump appeared to still be in campaign mode.
“They put America last, they put you last,” Mr. Trump said, adding that he did not know if Mr. Biden knew “he was alive” while in office. “Bad things were happening, and now there is light.”
The final day of his first trip of his second term signaled the collision of lofty campaign promises with the realities of governing. Mr. Trump told the crowd gathered in the Circa Resort & Casino that he would work with Congress in the coming weeks on legislation that “keeps my promise” on not taxing tips.
Mr. Trump said the pledge that became a key plank of his campaign originated in a suggestion from a waitress he met at a hotel. After she proposed the idea, he recounted, “I said, ‘Thank you very much, you just won the election.’”
But he had little to say on how to smooth a path for the proposal through Congress. Republicans have introduced legislation interpreting Mr. Trump’s pledge in different ways, with some leery of the cost of fulfilling it.
Among the details under debate is which kind of taxes people should be allowed to be exempt from. Many workers pay both income taxes and payroll taxes, which fund Social Security and Medicare, though low-wage workers often owe very little or no income tax.
One proposal floated in Congress would exempt tips from income tax, but keep it for payroll taxes, in a proposal estimated to cost $106 billion over a decade.
Creating a tax-free form of income could also motivate many Americans, including highly paid professionals, to change how they are paid, making the tax break even more expensive. To address that, Republicans could set an income cap, barring wealthier Americans from the tax break, or they could allow taxpayers to exclude only a certain amount of tips from their taxable income.
Mr. Trump’s audience at the casino on Saturday appeared fully content with Mr. Trump’s performance, even if it came without details on delivery.
The crowd roared when he proclaimed that Pete Hegseth had been confirmed as defense secretary the night before. They cheered when Mr. Trump said he was “very proud to pardon the J6 hostages” to a crowd that included Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers militia who had been serving 18 years in prison on seditious conspiracy convictions until his sentence was commuted by Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump prompted laughs when appeared to joke about serving a third term, an idea that has prompted a long-shot proposal in Congress from a House Republican to change the 22nd Amendment’s term limits.
“It will be the greatest honor of my life to serve not once but twice or three times or four times,” Trump said, as he began laughing. He added, “No, it will be to serve twice.”
After his speech, Mr. Trump went downstairs to the casino floor, where he was greeted with cheers from patrons as he watched a game of craps.
“Throw the dice,” Mr. Trump said as he ignored a reporter’s shouted question over his firing of at least a dozen inspectors general in the federal government. “Not bad,” Mr. Trump said after the gamble.
