--- title: President Trump's Tax Plan description: President Trump began his pitch for tax reform with a short on specifics speech in Missouri on Wednesday. Senator McCain returns to DC. canonical: https://time.com/4923144/president-trumps-tax-plan/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-31T20:37:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:32:17.081Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump's Tax Plan og:description: President Trump began his pitch for tax reform with a short on specifics speech in Missouri on Wednesday. Senator McCain returns to DC. og:url: https://time.com/4923144/president-trumps-tax-plan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump's Tax Plan twitter:description: President Trump began his pitch for tax reform with a short on specifics speech in Missouri on Wednesday. Senator McCain returns to DC. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump's Tax Plan > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=de7e811e-4526-4cec-99ff-386026f1d627&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Does Not Call Russia A Security Threat [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Does Not Call Russia A Security Threat](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FoZwDtOS.m3u8) (0:42)  _Published 2017-08-28. President Trump avoids calling Russia a security threat during a press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 31, 2017 8:37 PM UTC President Trump avoids calling Russia a security threat during a press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 31, 2017 8:37 PM UTC President Donald Trump began his fall pitch for tax reform, but his speech in Missouri Wednesday was short on specifics. Aside from laying out an “ideal” 15% corporate tax rate—which Republicans on Capitol Hill are already backing away from—Trump offered only vague outlines of the GOP proposal. Republican lawmakers have haggled for years over such a plan, but have had trouble devising any sort of widespread consensus. In selling the rough sketch, Trump tried to spin the steep business tax cuts, arguing that “lower taxes on American business means higher wages for American workers.” And while he focused on middle class tax relief, the GOP plan would do wonders for the balance sheets of those in the highest income bracket. The Trump tax reality. McCain to return to Washington. And here’s how low President Trump’s approval rating could drop. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [Ivanka Trump supports rollback of Obama’s policy to close gender pay gap](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/30/ivanka-trump-gender-pay-gap-obama-policy-rollback) Initiative would have required employers to collect data on wages but ‘would not yield the intended results’ says Trump \[The Guardian\] [The reality beneath Trump’s tax reform talk](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/31/trump-tax-reform-corporate-rates-242194) While he emphasizes benefits to regular taxpayers, much of the push is about cutting corporate rates \[Politico\] [Federal judge blocks Texas’ tough ‘sanctuary cities’ law](https://apnews.com/9d25fb810d39417f85ec0e28bf314581/Federal-judge-blocks-Texas'-tough-'sanctuary-cities'-law) Was set to take effect in days \[Associated Press\] [Top advisers in more displays of disagreement with Trump](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-advisers-idUSKCN1BB075) Mattis is latest to buck Trump \[Reuters\] [Grand jury hears from lobbyist in Trump Tower confab](https://www.apnews.com/3bdad0490e26494297f70d8dacbf9d7e/Source:-Lobbyist-in-Trump-Tower-meeting-spoke-to-grand-jury?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter%5Faxiosam&stream=top-stories) Don Jr. meeting participant testifies \[Associated Press\] [Here’s How Congress Might Change Your Taxes](http://time.com/4921839/tax-reform-congress-deductions/) TIME’s Nash Jenkins on what’s under consideration [Trump Administration Wants to Stabilize Health Markets but Won’t Say How](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/us/politics/trump-obamacare-enrollment-markets-subsidies.html?src=twr&%5Fr=1) Set up for fight with Capitol Hill \[New York Times\] **Sound Off** “So let’s put — or at least try to put — the partisan posturing behind us and come together as Americans to create the 21st century tax code that our people deserve.” —President Donald Trump minutes after attacking Democrats on Capitol Hill “It’s pretty standard practice for us not to specifically call out staff. He regularly mentions Cabinet members but very rarely mentions staff in speeches.” —White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on why Trump did not mention Gary Cohn in his tax address. **Bits and Bites** [Here’s How Low President Trump’s Approval Rating Could Drop](http://time.com/4916675/donald-trump-approval-rating-low/) \[TIME\] [With a drama-filled White House, Mattis has shown deft political touch](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/with-a-drama-filled-white-house-mad-dog-mattis-has-shown-deft-political-touch/2017/08/30/f87621f8-8d96-11e7-8df5-c2e5cf46c1e2%5Fstory.html?stream=top-stories&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter%5Faxiosam&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fterm=.c5fe505e9ff5) \[Washington Post\] [Texas lawmakers press for Harvey money — pronto](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/30/hurricane-harvey-texas-congress-aid-242195) \[Politico\] [Statehouses, Not Congress, Hosting Biggest Political Money Fights](http://time.com/4922560/statehouses-congress-money-fights-campaign-finance/) \[Center for Public Integrity\] [The Pentagon Admits There Are a Lot More U.S. Troops in Afghanistan Than We Thought](http://time.com/4922740/pentagon-us-troops-afghanistan/) \[Associated Press\] [John McCain Will Return to Washington D.C. Next Week](http://time.com/4922611/john-mccain-senate-return-cancer/) \[TIME\] [The GOP May Cut $1 Billion in FEMA Funds to Help Finance Trump’s Border Wall](http://time.com/4922472/house-republicans-fema-funding-cut-border-wall/) \[Associated Press\] ## Transcript [00:00] My question to you, Mr. President, would be, Mr. [00:03] Trump, would you consider Russia as a security threat? [00:07] Thank you. Well, I consider many countries as a [00:10] security threat, unfortunately, when you look at what's [00:12] going on in the world today. As you know, a few weeks [00:14] ago, our great Vice President, Mike Pence, who's right [00:18] here, Was in the region and spent quite [00:22] a bit of time there. We consider that a very, very [00:25] important part of the world. We have great [00:28] relationships there. We have a great relationship with [00:30] Finland. And so I would consider many countries [00:34] threats, but These are all threats that we will be able [00:36] to handle them if we have to hopefully we won't have [00:39] to handle them but if we do we will handle them. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4923144/president-trumps-tax-plan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4923144/president-trumps-tax-plan/"},"headline":"President Trump's Tax Plan","datePublished":"2017-08-31T20:37:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:32:17.081Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: August 31","url":"https://time.com/4923144/president-trumps-tax-plan/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4923144/president-trumps-tax-plan/","name":"President Trump's Tax Plan"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Does Not Call Russia A Security Threat","description":"President Trump avoids calling Russia a security threat during a press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FoZwDtOS/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-08-28T21:03:41.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FoZwDtOS.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4923144/president-trumps-tax-plan/","duration":"PT42S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4923144/president-trumps-tax-plan/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```