Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said that President Donald Trump is correct in assessing that the Democratic Party wants to raise taxes, but argued it wants to aim these raises on billionaires like Trump and Elon Musk.

Trump made his assessment during his 100-day rally in Michigan on Tuesday, joking that he had “never heard” of a politician, regardless of party affiliation, campaigning on the idea of raising taxes on voters. Asked for a response, Khanna suggested that the president was right to an extent, while also targeting the nation’s gross domestic product as proof that Trump’s policies “aren’t working.” 

Recommended Stories

• Lawmakers announce bill to eliminate penny production after Trump slams coin as 'wasteful'
• Trump's trade war hits San Francisco's Chinatown
• House Republican aims to cut cartels' cash flow by targeting wire transfer services

“Yes, we want to raise taxes on people like President Trump and Elon Musk and the billionaires in my district so that we’re not cutting Medicaid, so we can provide food for our kids and childcare,” Khanna argued on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom. “But look, Bill, the report card is out. It’s a pretty objective fact the GDP was growing at 2.4% in the final quarter of last year when President Biden was in office, and now, it’s first quarter: -0.3%, and the policies just aren’t working.”

Trump had also expressed openness to the idea of creating a new tax on millionaires to offset the cost of his legislative agenda, which some Republican lawmakers have objected to. The president has since rejected this “disruptive” idea, warning that it could push millionaires to leave the United States. 

Khanna also took issue with Trump’s “19th-century policies” on the economy, such as the president’s use of tariffs, and how the Democratic Party’s “New Economic Patriotism” of investing in factories across the U.S. This assessment prompted disagreement from Fox News host Bill Hemmer, who argued the “baseline” of Trump’s tariffs are meant to restore productivity within the country. 

TARIFFS, NOT TRANSPARENCY, ARE THE ‘HOSTILE ACT’

The Democratic lawmaker clarified that he has “no problem” with tariffs to protect the nation’s work industry, but this industry needs investment first before tariffs go into effect. Khanna’s argument comes after several companies, such as Apple and Honda Motor, are changing their production in response to Trump’s myriad of tariffs. 

As the president recently reached his first 100 days back in the White House, the economy contracted by at a 0.3% annual rate in the first quarter of 2025. Trump blamed former President Joe Biden for this unexpected contraction, saying, “I didn’t take over until January 20th” on social media.