President Donald Trump could benefit from some of the business provisions in the tax bill that could be headed for his signature this week, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday.
Trump has repeatedly said the legislation won’t benefit him, even insisting he’d be a “big loser” if it passes. The House approved the tax bill Tuesday afternoon. The Senate plans to begin debating the measure and is likely to approve it later in the day.
“In some ways, particularly on the personal side, the president will likely take a big hit,” Sanders said during a White House press briefing. “But on the business side he could benefit.”
Sanders added that a “number of provisions” would negatively impact the president, but didn’t specify which ones. Among other things, the bill would cap the deduction on state and local taxes, including property taxes, at $10,000.
Experts have said that Trump and other high earners would gain considerably under the plan. Many high-earning pass-through businesses—including Trump’s many companies that own real estate assets—would see temporary tax cuts.
It’s impossible to figure out exactly how the president would fare under the tax revamp. Trump departed from roughly 40 years of tradition for presidential candidates by refusing to release his tax returns during the 2016 campaign. The president has said he’s under a federal audit and won’t release his returns until the audit is over.
Democrats have called for Trump to release his returns. Sanders repeated Tuesday that Trump’s returns are still under audit and he has no plans to release them until that’s concluded.
