While speaking to a crowd of his supporters on a sweltering day in Las Vegas, former President Donald Trump debuted a new campaign promise, saying he would end the practice of taxing tips if sent back to the White House in November.
Nevada boasts a large number of employees in the service industries who depend on tips as a necessary supplement to their wages.
"So this is the first time I've said this, and for those hotel workers and people that get tips you're going to be very happy because when I get to office," Trump told the crowd. "We are going to not charge taxes on tips people (are) making."
Trump insisted he would fulfill that pledge "right away. First thing in office."
"You do a great job of service," he added. "You take care of people, and I think it's going to be something that really is deserved."
The promise was a rare specific piece of Trump's purported plan to give tax relief to middle-income workers and small businesses, though he has also pledged to make the tax cuts he signed into law in 2017 permanent.
Currently those cuts are set to expire in 2025. Making them permanent would escalate the federal deficit by about $4 trillion over the next decade, according to financial analysts.
Trump refrained from endorsing any of Nevada's U.S. Senate candidates during a speech built on a discussion of stamina, which apparently was being tested in the desert heat. Six people in the crowd of about 6,900 were taken to local medical facilities for treatment of heat-related illness, according to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.
