By Ava Chatlosh
Las Vegas Sun
(TNS)
Aug. 5 — President Donald Trump traveled to Las Vegas on Wednesday to tout his “no tax on tips” policy he claims has already saved Nevada restaurant workers thousands of dollars—an assertion that a leading tax policy group says glosses over a harder truth: Most Americans are paying more, not less, under his second-term agenda.
Trump reiterated White House claims that his tax cuts have benefited thousands of Nevadans, including more than 440,000 tipped workers statewide who saved an average of $10,000 this filing season under the “no tax on tips” policy. The White House said Nevada also ranked fourth nationally for average tax refunds in 2026.
These are the Republican-backed tax cuts—provisions of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law July 4, 2025, that grant temporary federal income tax deductions on qualified tips and overtime pay.
But the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning nonpartisan research group, has found that the combined effect of the tax and tariff policies enacted during Trump’s second term amounts to a tax increase for the average American in every income group except the wealthiest 5%.
Additionally, the deductions expire in 2028, after Trump’s second term ends.
None of those details, however, dampened Trump from trumpeting his view.
“You got to love me because you’re making all this overtime working on Saturdays and Sundays and late, and there’s no tax on overtime,” Trump told the crowd at Red Rock Resort.
Trump has repeatedly framed Las Vegas as central to his tax agenda, calling the city the “birthplace” of the no-tax-on-tips policy. He first pitched the idea at a campaign rally here in June 2024.
As for no taxes on overtime pay, the White House says the provision cut taxes for the roughly 20% of Nevadans who regularly work overtime.
The president made the midweek swing out West in hopes of shoring up Republican support ahead of the November elections, which will determine which party controls Congress. He was in the Los Angeles area Tuesday.
Trump also touted his “Trump Accounts,” tax-advantaged investment accounts that a parent or guardian can open on behalf of a child under 18. Children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, qualify for an initial $1,000 deposit from the U.S. Treasury.
Local Democrats were vocal in their criticism of Trump’s visit.
U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford said in a statement that “working people and families in Nevada don’t need another campaign stop, they need relief.”
He continued, “Across my district, families are worried about the cost of housing, groceries, utility bills, and health care. Small businesses are worried about keeping their doors open. Hospitality workers are worried about getting enough hours, enough customers, and enough tips to support their families. Working people are doing everything right, but too many are still falling behind.”
Horsford and fellow Reps. Susie Lee and Dina Titus, all Democrats teamed with members of Culinary Workers Union Local 226 for an event to “highlight how the Trump Slump is negatively impacting Nevada’s economy and ask why Republican politicians won’t stand up to Trump,” Lee’s office said in a statement.
Democrats say Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo hasn’t done enough to push back against Trump’s policies that have hurt the local economy. Tourism was down 7.5% in 2025.
Lombardo, who is seeking reelection in November, spoke at the Trump event, joking that “my team is advising me to stay on script. That way the Democrats can’t clip my comments and make their own videos.”
Other Republicans on Nevada’s November ballot also appeared at the rally. Marty O’Donnell, who is challenging Lee in the 3rd Congressional District, said ” President Trump and his administration has already done so much to lower taxes, brought American jobs back from workers and American families.”
Democrats disagree.
They say the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” will result in an estimated 10 million Americans losing health coverage over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office—including, Democrats say, roughly 30,000 from Southern Nevada. The law cuts $911 billion from Medicaid—a program that approximately 800,000 Nevadans, or about one in five residents, rely on for healthcare.
“Nevada Democrats have been fighting for tipped workers long before Trump came onto the scene. Southern Nevadans aren’t going to buy what he’s trying to sell, because we feel what he’s been doing to our pocketbooks,” Lee said in a statement. “While you’re paying more for gas, groceries, and health care, Donald Trump is getting richer.”
Photo caption: President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas on Aug. 5, 2026. (The White House/YouTube)
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© 2026 the Las Vegas Sun (Las Vegas, Nev.). Visit www.lasvegassun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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