During a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, former President Trump said he was serious about eliminating the federal income tax in the United States and replacing the revenue stream with tariffs on imports.
The 2024 Presidential candidate cited the tariff policies of former US President William McKinley during the 1890s as incredibly prosperous for the country and argued that the same policies should be applied today to fund the government. Trump told Rogan that the tariffs created so much revenue that public officials did not know how to spend the funds:
“We were so rich. We had so much money. We didn’t know what to do, so they set up a blue ribbon commission on tariffs. And the sole purpose was what to do with all the money we had.”
Critics have argued that imposing tariffs on imports will add a hidden tax in the form of increased prices on goods. However, Trump maintains that tariffs can drive dollar demand while protecting domestic workers and making US exports more attractive.
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Trump proposes adopting Bitcoin to alleviate national debt
Radical proposals to the existing financial system are nothing new for the former President, who has also argued that Bitcoin (BTC) could be used to wipe away the $35 trillion national debt.
Trump hinted at the idea during a conversation with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo — telling the host that the US could repay creditors by “Handing them a little Bitcoin” which would “Wipe away our $35 trillion.”
Asset manager Bryan Courchesne argued that establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve for the US government was difficult but not impossible.
Courchesne explained that the Department of Justice could transfer the approximately 200,000 BTC seized through various law enforcement actions to the United States Treasury and continue accumulating the digital currency as a strategic reserve asset.
However, the asset manager also noted that overcoming bureaucratic red tape would be a hurdle to establishing the strategic reserve.
Trump is not the only Presidential candidate to float the idea of a Bitcoin strategic reserve either. Former independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also pitched Bitcoin as a way to save the US dollar earlier in 2024 before dropping out of the race.
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