Trump hints at scrapping income tax for US citizens, stresses tariffs on foreign nations

Just days into his second term, United States President Donald Trump on Monday hinted at scrapping income tax for the US citizens. He said it is time for the USA to return to the "system that made us richer". To enforce the abolition of federal tax, the POTUS suggested "tariffing and taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens."

Addressing the House Republicans' annual policy retreat in Miami, Trump said that America will become "very rich again" and stressed that it will happen "very quickly".

"It is time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before," he said.

Trump said that the period from 1870 to 1913 was the richest period in the United States' history when it was "all tariff".

"Do you know the United States in 1870-1913, all tariffs. And that was the richest period in the history of the United States, relatively speaking. In other words, relatively. And they set up the Great Tariff Commission of 1887, and this commission had one function: 'what to do with all the money that we took in?'" he said.

The US President added, "It was so enormous that they had no idea. It was the Blue Ribbon Committee. It was set up in 1887. And again Teddy Roosevelt was a beneficiary. McKinley was killed. He took over his vast sum of money and he did all of those national parks and all of the other things. He was given a vast amount of money, and that was all made through tariffs. We had no income tax. The income tax came in 1913," he added.

He further suggested that instead of taxing US citizens, the country should tax and impose tariffs on foreign nations.

"As I said in my speech last week, instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be tariffing and taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens. Does that make sense? Right?" Trump said.