By james art 
LAS VEGAS (AP) – President Donald Trump came to Las Vegas on Saturday to make good on his campaign promise to eliminate council taxes, signaling to allies in Congress the importance of the policy but stopping short of offering details on the transformation. of the slogan in reality.
Instead, Trump spent most of his 40 minutes speaking to roughly 1,000 supporters in a casino ballroom, boasting about his November victory, mocking former President Joe Biden’s administration and hurling a barrage of executive actions , after entering on Monday.
“But I have to be honest with you, I’m really here for a different reason, I’m here to say thank you,” Trump told the crowd at Cirta Resort & Casino.
The ultimate victory lap, Trump’s first rally since taking office, came after he won Nevada’s six electoral votes in November, becoming the first Republican since George W. Bush in 2004 to carry the state. It was part of Trump’s sweep of all seven of the most competitive states, giving him a healthy electoral majority and a second, non-consecutive term.
Aides said Trump’s stop in Nevada was to deliver an “economically focused message” built around his familiar promise to hospitality workers to eliminate the income tax on handouts.
“We’ll get it for you — ‘no tip tax,'” Trump said, standing behind a podium emblazoned with the same slogan he used during the 2024 campaign.
After the rally, Trump walked across the casino floor past his plush velvet tables, to cheers of “USA, USA” from patrons. At the roulette table, a player yelled, “Give me $47 on 47,” for Trump, now the 47th president. “Ouch,” Trump lamented at the loss, but he signed autographs as supporters swarmed.
In light of the details, Trump’s comments on the tips were a signal to congressional Republicans that the proposal is a priority for the massive tax package they intend to pass this year. Trump is set to meet with House Republicans on Monday as they gather in Florida to outline the strategy ahead.
Speaker Mike Johnson, who worked to push the package forward, invited Trump to address a joint session of Congress on March 4, a tradition for incoming presidents who don’t deliver a State of the Union address until their second year in office. Johnson said lawmakers working with Trump hope to make the next four years “one of the longest in our nation’s history.”
Nevada is a familiar backdrop for conversations and taxation. As a candidate, Trump first floated the idea of ending the grant tax at a June rally in Las Vegas — a proposal later copied by his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are 2.24 million restaurant servers nationwide, with tips making up a large percentage of their income.
In Las Vegas, the 24-hour economy is fueled by everyone from wait staff and maids to hotels and casino dealers, all of whom collect tips. Nevada has the nation’s highest concentration of workers, with about 25.8 waiters and waitresses per 1,000 jobs, followed by Hawaii and Florida.
Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union, which represents about 60,000 hospitality workers in Nevada, said Trump’s plans “shouldn’t end” with eliminating the tip tax.
“Eliminating tip taxes and ending the $2.13 minimum wage—the reality in too many states across the country—will give millions of hospitality workers a raise,” Papageorge said. He said many employers are on track to pay well below the federal minimum wage and expect grant-in-aid to make up the difference.
Despite the stated focus on taxes, the Nevada rally served mostly as a first week of sorts for Trump’s First Week in office, as he told the crowd the executive orders he has signed and what they will do.
“We’ve accomplished more in one week than most administrations have in four years, and we’re just getting started,” Trump said, adding that his executive orders “reverse the terrible failures and betrayals that we inherited from a group of people who people who people who people who people who people’ I didn’t know what the hell they were doing. “
Trump pointed to a sweeping freeze on new money for all U.S. foreign aid, his announcement to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord and his executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion across the entire federal government, among other things.
“We feel light over our country,” Trump said. “Everybody does.”
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Beaumont reports from Des Moines, Iowa.
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