Nevada
We asked Donald Trump questions on the issue that matters most to locals in Southern Nevada
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Former President Donald Trump was in town this weekend for events both large and small in the swing state that he knows is critical on his path to the White House.
“We win this state, we’re going to win the whole thing. We win this we’re going to win the whole thing,” Trump said at his rally on Friday.
I met with the former president here at the Trump International Hotel to ask him about an issue that’s been on the minds of locals since this campaign began…
The Economy
Steve: I wanted to find out from you, what one policy or program would you pursue that you think is most important that would help local Las Vegans in terms of the economy?
This is what the former president had to say:
“As far as hotel workers and things as you know, no tax on tips is going to be very good. Also as we announced last week, and I think it’s going to be — even maybe in a certain — way more important, no tax on overtime. And then for the seniors, which will be fantastic because they’ve been devastated by inflation — this makes up for it, this would just about make up for it — we’re going to have no tax on social security benefits. So those three things are going to be great for this area.”
Earlier this year, Trump proposed a “No Tax On Tips” policy at a rally in June and recently held an event in August specific to the proposal here in Las Vegas. The push for no taxes on tipped income was again mentioned during his campaign rally on Friday, and now Trump has gone further with these proposals for no taxes on overtime pay and social security benefits.
Nevada is home to plenty of hourly workers and retirees who would benefit from those proposals, but I also wanted to know how Trump planned to pay for the revenue lost when those taxes are cut and what effect it might have on the federal debt.
Steve: Once you take that revenue out of the federal budget, how are you going to replace that?
Trump said:
“We’re going to have tremendous growth — you know, drill, baby, drill. We have more liquid gold under our feet than anybody else, and we’re going to be charging countries that have been ripping us off for years with tariffs. And the tariffs will make us… we’ll have money like we never had before.”
I followed up in our exclusive interview to ask the former president if tariffs wouldn’t undercut the gains people would see with tax cuts since economists believe prices would rise in response to tariffs.
Trump told me tariffs were necessary to cut trade deficits and might even end up creating jobs in the United States.
Trump said:
“You know, when you have a 100% tariff on a nation, better than the money is the fact that they’re not going to pay it very long, and they’re going to build a plant here. If they build a plant here, there is no tariff.”
The idea of tariffs is one of the things that old-school, free-trade Republicans find frustrating about Trump.
I asked him about the group “Republicans for Harris,” members of the GOP who say that while they disagree with Harris on issues, Trump presents a threat to democratic governance.
Steve: If there was a Republican for Harris in the room with us, what would you tell them in terms of persuading them to vote for you as opposed to vote for Harris?
Trump said:
“I probably wouldn’t tell them anything because maybe it would be a personality problem, maybe they don’t like the way I was tough on China. You know, a lot of them don’t want me to be tough on China. A lot of them don’t want me to be tough on anybody.”
This weekend will not be former President Trump’s last visit. He’s promised to return to the Silver State before the election on November 5.
You can watch our full interview with the former president in the video player above.
If you have a question about politics, elections or government, you can Ask Steve via the link on our website. He will endeavor to answer your questions on air or online.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom won’t admit it, but a move by President Donald Trump is especially helpful to drivers in California — and Nevada.
Gasoline prices are pressuring consumers around the country. On Friday, the average U.S. price was $4.55 a gallon. In California, that would be a bargain. The average there was $6.16 a gallon. Nevada’s average was $5.23 a gallon, the result of around 88 percent of the state’s gasoline coming from California.
It might be getting worse — regardless of what happens in Iran.
In recent months, two major California refineries have shut down. That represented a 17 percent reduction in California’s refining capacity. Their closures weren’t caused by the Iran war, but by Gov. Newsom and California’s relentless attacks on fossil fuels.
To make up for the fuel it won’t extract or refine in-state, California depends on imports from foreign countries.
“We are importing 30 percent of our crude oil from the Middle East,” Mike Ariza, a former control board supervisor at the Valero Benicia Refinery, said in an interview. He has been warning the public about California’s potential fuel shortage. “There are not very many ships left on the way that have fuel,” he said last month.
Last week, KCRA-TV in Sacramento reported that “about 2 million barrels of oil are in the process of being unloaded in Long Beach off of the last California-bound tanker that got through the Strait of Hormuz.”
At a California legislative hearing Tuesday, Siva Gunda, the vice chairman of the California Energy Commission, said the state has enough gasoline to accommodate demand for the next six weeks. That’s not a very long time, especially given that it takes weeks or months for oil to travel from the Middle East to California. And that process won’t begin until the Strait of Hormuz reopens.
There is a region, however, with abundant oil available for sale and safe passage — the southeastern United States. Unfortunately, the Jones Act, an antiquated 1920 law, mandates that only U.S.-flagged ships may move cargo between U.S. ports. But only 55 of the more than 7,000 oil tankers worldwide comply with this requirement.
This is where Mr. Trump rode to the rescue. Late last month, the White House announced Mr. Trump would suspend the Jones Act for another 90 days. In March, he originally waived it for 60 days. This will make it easier for California and Nevada to obtain domestic product.
If only Mr. Trump could also suspend the destructive energy policies imposed by Gov. Newsom and California Democrats.
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — An adoptable pet is in the spotlight for “Furever Home Friday,” with Amy from the Nevada SPCA featured in a segment highlighting an animal available for adoption today.
The Nevada SPCA encouraged viewers looking to add a pet to their family to consider adopting.
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