President Donald Trump has said there could be “big surprises” ahead of the mid-term elections on November 3, raising speculation that he might pull something out of a hat before Americans go to the polls. Trump made the comment on Wednesday during an address near Baltimore at a new Maryland shipyard that will construct submarines. "We have some big surprises coming up in another few weeks,” Trump said, without specifying further, teasing the prospect of a big measure before the mid-term elections.
The opaque statement raises speculation over whether Trump intended to make a major policy announcement, order a government action or was referring to another election-related development. Trump referred to Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, when he suggested an imminent pre-election measure. "He's going to be one of the very important people in the history of our country,” Trump said of one of his administration’s most influential officials.
One possibility for a big-ticket announcement could be a tax change to woo voters. In an August Fox Business conversation, National Economic Council (NEC) director Kevin Hassett and host Larry Kudlow discussed how the White House may propose new tax breaks. Kudlow said he had spoken to Trump about indexing capital gains to inflation and making changes to capital gains taxes on home sales, which could protect more of the homeowners’ profits from taxes.
However, changes to the home sale capital gains exclusion would need congressional approval, and it is not certain how committed the Trump administration would be to this. Trump could make an announcement as dramatic as when he told a rally in Dallas on September 9 that every American adult would get $5,000 if the GOP kept control of both houses of Congress after the election. Figures from both sides criticized Trump’s proposal and experts have also priced the measure at $1.2 trillion, noting that it would require approval from Congress already dealing with a ballooning budget deficit.
Another direct payment could be a headline grabber and a potential vote winner, especially as the Trump administration began sending $500 checks to over 950,000 Americans in 30 states. These payments were refunds for what the administration said were in response to overcharges through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The $500 checks come amid a growing affordability crisis in the U.S. as Americans face sky-high costs at the pump.
The national average price for regular gas is $4.36 a gallon as of Thursday, up from $3.12 a year ago. Diesel costs $6.28 a gallon, up from $3.68 a year ago. Any announcement that could ease the pressure at the pump would be welcome for American voters.
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