Donald Trump tax tour heads to friendly turf in North Dakota

BISMARCK, N.D. — When Donald Trump brings his tax reform tour to North Dakota, he'll be on friendly turf — a deep-red state he carried by 36 points last year, and one that got an immediate boost when he threw his young presidency behind a controversial oil pipeline.

But even Trump backers in North Dakota want to see more detail about what he's got planned when it comes to taxes beyond the limited aims sketched out so far.

"The taxes need to come down much lower," Art Wood, 78, a retired pastor who was chatting with friends at a Fargo shopping mall, said Friday. "I don't understand a lot of it, so I hope he explains it to us next week."

Wood's ask for lower taxes is at the core of Trump's dilemma as he sets out to try to sell his supporters on his push to rewrite the tax code — a campaign that will take him to North Dakota Wednesday. The celebrity businessman cemented his coalition with populist promises to give an economic boost to people left behind by the slow recovery of the Obama years. But both he and his party also have made big promises of lower tax rates to corporate America and top earners. Reconciling those two elements, while holding to the party's stated opposition to increasing the deficit, is as difficult as it gets.

Read more: http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2017/09/04/donald-trump-tax-tour-heads-friendly-turf-north-dakota/631359001/