this article is part of the opinion today newsletter. you can sign up here to receive more briefings and a guide to the section daily in your inbox. the plan that donald trump released during the campaign would cut taxes for the wealthiest households <u+2014> the top 0.1 percent of earners <u+2014> by $1.1 million a year on average. it<u+2019>s an astonishing number. a group that already makes an average of about $8 million a year would receive a 14 percent income boost, according to the tax policy center . it would receive a raise larger than the total income earned by more than 99 percent of american households. yesterday, however, trump<u+2019>s choice for treasury secretary, steven mnuchin, effectively said to forget about his boss<u+2019>s campaign plan <u+2014> and that there would be no tax cut for the rich. <u+201c>any reductions we have in upper-income taxes will be offset by less deductions so that there will be no absolute tax cut for the upper class,<u+201d> mnuchin said on cnbc . for good reason, a lot of people expressed skepticism about mnuchin<u+2019>s statement. slate<u+2019>s headline read: <u+201c>trump<u+2019>s treasury pick promises not to cut taxes on the rich. ha. haha. hahahahaha.<u+201d> my times colleague neil irwin archly explained that trump<u+2019>s various promises <u+201c>will be hard to execute.<u+201d> among the reasons for skepticism: cutting taxes for the wealthy has been the republican party<u+2019>s highest policy priority for years, and congressional leaders are unlikely to abandon it. the details of mnuchin<u+2019>s comments are also questionable. trump<u+2019>s proposed tax cut is so large that it<u+2019>d very hard to offset it by eliminating deductions. to believe mnuchin, you have to assume the earlier tax plan is going to change radically. of course, trump and his advisers have shown a remarkable willingness to say whatever they think sounds best. so maybe we should ignore the latest statement <u+2014> or maybe we should ignore the detailed plan. we won<u+2019>t know until the trump team begins work on actual legislation. but i think it<u+2019>s worth remembering that trump does face a real dilemma . he won the presidency with the votes of large numbers of working-class voters. his original tax plan doesn<u+2019>t do much to help them <u+2014> indeed, probably hurts them, given the ways it will lead to cuts in programs that benefit the working class. eventually, trump is going to have to decide whether to pursue policies that help his political base. the initial statements of his top economic adviser suggest that the trump team at least understands the dilemma. you can join me on twitter (@dleonhardt) and facebook . i am also writing a daily email newsletter and invite you to subscribe . follow the new york times opinion section on facebook and twitter (@nytopinion).
trump<u+2019>s flip-flop on taxes
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