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When former president Donald Trump’s bespoke Boeing 757 lands in Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday, he will be met in both places with a series of billboards meant to highlight what Democrats are calling a potential $4,000 per family tax hike courtesy of his proposed tax policies.
The ex-president is set to visit both swing states for a pair of rallies as he and his running-mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, are fighting to regain momentum in their campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Trump was previously shown as leading the Democratic ticket in polling taken when he was running against Joe Biden, but in the weeks since the president stood aside in favor of Harris, he has seen his lead evaporate in both the Badger State and the Wolverine State.
And as he campaigns there, Democratic National Committee officials aren’t willing to let him appear without answering for budgeting proposals that the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance — the ex-president’s alma mater — says will blow up the federal deficit and raise tax bills for the average family.
Democrats are hitting back with the roadside displays — which have been erected in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and Waverly, Michigan — to remind voters of the potential cost of returning him to the White House.
The billboards, which will be readable in both English and Spanish, say Trump’s “Project 2025” will “raise taxes on middle-class families by $3,900.”
That figure comes from a Center for American Progress study that found his plans for across-the-board tariffs on all imported goods would result in increased costs that would hit families hard by raising prices for nearly everything they purchase in daily life.
The CAP study found that his proposed 20 percent tariff, plus his planned 60 percent tax on Chinese goods, would amount to the nearly $4,000 per family cost.
Additionally, the Penn Wharton Budget Model found that the ex-president’s plans to make the tax cuts he signed into law during his term permanent would blow up the deficit by over $4 trillion over the next decade.
The Penn study also found that his plan to end taxes on social security benefits would come with a $1.2 trillion price tag, while his proposal to enact new tax cuts for large corporations would add nearly $6 billion to the federal deficit.
Addy Toevs, a Democratic National Committee spokesperson, said in a statement that Trump’s economic plans “would not only increase the deficit by over $4 trillion in ten years” but would “threaten to raise costs on hardworking families” as well.
“Donald Trump’s tax scam was a disaster for working Wisconsinites. As president, he gave handouts to his wealthy friends at the expense of middle-class families. If he reaches the White House again, he’ll double down on those policies and force the average family to pay thousands more in taxes. Donald Trump is a white-collar crook and Wisconsinites know he won’t hesitate to take money out of their wallets to put in the pockets of billionaires,” she said.
Another DNC spokesperson, Stephanie Justice, said Trump “has always put the interests of Michigan’s working families last.”
“Now he’s threatening a new tax scam to the benefit of the ultra-wealthy and corporations, proving once again that he’s never going to change,” she said.
“Trump is eager to cushion his billionaire friends’ bottom lines instead of uplifting Michigan families and enact an agenda that would raise taxes on them to the tune of nearly $4,000 a year. Michiganders know that Trump will never look out for them and will put their futures on the chopping block if he gets his way.”
