President Donald Trump at a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (CSPAN screengrab)
“I just came here because I wanted to thank the people of Nevada for giving us such a big win,” President Donald Trump, five days into his second term, told the crowd at a rally in downtown Las Vegas Saturday.
Trump’s victory marks the first time a Republican presidential candidate has won Nevada since George W. Bush’s victory in 2004.
The president also recited his familiar list of grievances against former President Joe Biden and Democrats.
Trump singled out his campaign promise of doing away with the income tax on tips as contributing to his win.
More than 4 million workers depend on tips, the president said, “including an estimated 700,000 single moms. And here in Nevada, a quarter of the typical restaurant worker’s pay comes from tips.”
Tip earners make up about 2.5% of all workers in the U.S., according to experts, and often earn too little to incur a tax liability.
“Joe, governor, do you think that had an impact on the election?” Trump asked Nevada GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo of the ‘no tax on tips’ pledge. “You do? Like, what a half a point? You had an impact. I’ll tell you that,” Trump said to Lombardo.
“Thank you, my man. Great job,” he called out to the governor later when his speech had ended.
Earlier this week, Lombardo, the former sheriff of Clark County, would not respond when asked via email if he approved of Trump’s acts of clemency for individuals convicted of violent crimes against law enforcement during the Jan. 6 insurrections, in which some 150 officers were injured.
Trump reeled off a laundry list of actions in his first five days in office, including ending America’s membership in the World Health Organization, initiating deportations, sending military troops “to the border to help the invasion,” getting “rid of the ‘woke’ crap,” and declaring the U.S. recognizes two genders.
On inflation, a primary concern to Americans, Trump said on “day one, I directed every member of my Cabinet to marshal all powers at their disposal to defeat inflation and bring down the cost of daily life.”
Trump’s presidential action instructs “all executive departments and agencies to deliver emergency price relief, consistent with applicable law, to the American people,” by “pursuing appropriate actions” to lower costs, and directs the elimination of “‘climate’ policies that increase the costs of food and fuel.”
Executive department heads must report progress to the president every 30 days.
The president also heralded the confirmation Friday of former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth as secretary of Defense. Vice President J.D. Vance cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate in Hegseth’s favor.
Three Republicans – Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell – voted against Hegseth, whose nomination process has been peppered with allegations of sexual harassment, inept fiscal management, and a drinking problem.
Trump noted the Senate’s confirmation Saturday of North Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as secretary of Homeland Security. “She’s a tough one,” he said of Noem, who received bipartisan criticism last year after revealing in her book that she fatally shot a misbehaving hunting dog.
The president said his pledge to eliminate taxes on tips, as well as making his 2017 tax cuts permanent, are priorities for his administration. Those initiatives cannot be accomplished via executive order and will require acts of Congress.
Like the SC Daily Gazette, Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com.