President Donald Trump is continuing to take a buzzsaw to the entrenched Washington, D.C., bureaucracy as well as the ‘uniparty’ thought processes that have been entrenched in the nation’s capital for decades. On Monday, President Trump suggested eliminating income taxes entirely, advocating instead for a tariff-based system—a funding method that historically served as the federal government’s primary revenue source until the early 20th century.
During his campaign, Trump championed proposals to shift away from income-based federal revenue. He called for the elimination of taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits, aligning with his broader vision of tax reform. Speaking to Republican members of Congress at his Doral resort in Miami, Florida, Trump said, “America is going to be very rich again, and it’s going to happen very quickly.” He added: “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before.”
The president explained that from 1870 to 1913, the federal government was primarily funded by tariffs, and “it was the richest period in the history of the United States.” The Sixteenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, allowed the federal government to impose income taxes. A Supreme Court ruling in 1895 had invalidated a previous law passed by Congress that attempted to do so. It should be noted that the Constitution allows for Congress to impose an income tax but it doesn’t require one.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before… Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be tariffing and taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens.” pic.twitter.com/q4svY9JL2Y
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 27, 2025
Trump argued Monday, “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be tariffing and taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens.” While Trump did not explicitly state that he wants to eliminate income taxes entirely, he strongly hinted that this is his ultimate goal. Tariffs, which he advocates as an alternative revenue source, are taxes levied on imported goods, with the importer paying these fees to the federal government.
During his first term, Trump implemented tariffs on a range of Chinese products, with rates as high as 25%. After taking office, Joe Biden maintained these tariffs. According to the Tax Foundation, by March 2024, these tariffs had generated $233 billion in revenue since their introduction in 2018. Supporters of a tariff system or a much-reduced income tax and tariff combo argue that slimmer incomes for the government would mean lawmakers would have to dramatically scale back spending.