President Donald Trump this week told House Republicans to raise taxes on the richest Americans as part of their sprawling budget bill, according to The New York Times and The Washington Post, which cited people familiar with Trump’s stance.

Why It Matters

Trump’s reported demand stands in stark contrast to the mainstream Republican position on taxes, which generally favors tax cuts for wealthier Americans—and also marks a reversal on the president’s own position from just weeks ago.

It could also upend the already tenuous negotiations surrounding the GOP’s budget proposal that House Speaker Mike Johnson is working to shepherd through the lower chamber.

In addition to extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Trump signed into law in 2017, Republicans are also trying to incorporate Trump’s campaign promises in the measure, including eliminating taxes on tips and increased funding for border security.

The proposal, as it stands at the moment, faces unanimous opposition from congressional Democrats.

What To Know

The Times reported that Trump wants people who make more than $2.5 million per year to face a 39.6 percent income tax. The highest current income tax rate of 37 percent applies to those who make more than $626,350 per year and married couples who make more than a combined $751,600 per year.

If implemented, Trump’s plan would roll back one of the tax cuts that took effect as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Trump instructed Johnson to include the tax hike in the “big, beautiful bill” during a phone call on Wednesday, the Times reported. The president’s move comes weeks after he publicly spoke out against raising taxes on millionaires.

“I think it would be very disruptive because a lot of the millionaires would leave the country,” he told reporters in the Oval Office last month. “In the old days, they left states, they’d go from one state to the other. Now with transportation so quick and so easy, they leave countries.”

What People Are Saying

Podcast host and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon recently posted on social media site Gettr: “Big story in WaPo that talks about how the great Russ Vought, Scott Bessent, and others including JD Vance are not just open to working on the ability to have an increase in taxes for, if not the upper bracket, then those making a million or more at 40%.

Bannon added: “Something we’ve advocated strongly and worked for many years here because it is the right thing to do. The working class and middle class need additional tax relief, and this is the way to get it.”

Johnson previously weighed in on raising taxes on millionaires, telling Fox News last month: “I’m not a big fan of doing that. We’re the Republican Party, and we’re for tax reduction for everyone—that’s a general principle that we always try to abide by. There’s lots of discussion, lots of ideas on the Hill. People have different thoughts and theories on how we can solve this perfect equation to get all of this done. But I wouldn’t put any money on any of that yet.”

GOP Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said he wasn’t opposed to hiking taxes on the wealthiest but told the Post that Republicans wouldn’t back the plan: “Zero, probably,” he said when asked how many would support it. “Maybe one or two.”

What Happens Next

House Republicans are continuing their negotiations over the sweeping budget proposal.

According to the nonpartisan group Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Trump’s agenda items and the GOP’s priorities in the bill are estimated to cost more than $11 trillion over the next ten years, which Republicans are working to offset by cutting spending in other areas.

Democrats have warned that some of those cuts could affect Medicaid, though Trump has publicly pledged not to touch the critical program, which serves more than 70 million Americans.

Update 5/8/25 9:29 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and context.