Rosemary Flores arrived at the hotel auditorium where President Donald Trump would soon boast of his economic achievements, dressed in a sequined American hat, eager to see him but worried that the president had forgotten about people like her. Gasoline here costs about $5 a gallon, up nearly 27% from last year, and the unemployment rate was among the highest in large metropolitan areas for several months last year as visitors to the tourism-dependent city dwindled.
This decline has forced some small businesses to reduce staff or close, leaving people like Flores’ son, who works as a waiter, out of work. “We hope Trump does a better job,” said Flores, 61, who has supported him since 2016. “But any president who doesn’t improve, we impeach him. Unfortunately, it’s true.” This visit is Trump’s first trip to the state since he rallied Nevadans days after his inauguration last year, following a historic victory in a state that had not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 2004.
A year and a half later, the Financial difficulties have undermined Trump’s efforts for celebrating his “no tip tax” policy in the city where he first introduced the proposal nearly two years ago, even to some of his most ardent supporters. “During my first term we had the best economy in the history of our country, and now we are ruining it,” Trump said, then added, referring to Iran: “despite our little distraction.” In a 45-minute roundtable speech at a downtown Las Vegas hotel, Trump insisted the economy was booming and highlighted his policies that expanded tax credits for working parents to offset child care expenses, as well as tax breaks for Social Security, overtime and tips.
A waiter and a police officer claimed to have benefited greatly from such policies. The tip tax-exempt law, passed by Congress last year, allows some tip workers to deduct up to $25,000 in tips from their taxable income through tax year 2028. Critics have pointed out that this measure is temporary and has exceptions, such as, for example, a tax credit only applies if two tip recipients are married. “Is it meeting the expectations of some? Probably not,” said Greg Ferraro, a longtime Nevada political analyst, referring to the “no tax on tips” policy. “But it’s better than not talking about the work these people do or acknowledging their dependence on tips — that’s the deeper, more meaningful conversation,” Ferraro added.
Nevada’s six electoral votes, its position near the start of the presidential primary calendar and its status as one of the most competitive swing states make it a constant battleground: a place where Republicans boast of a surge in voter registration, fueled, in part, by a surge of conservatives moving from California, and where Democrats are relying on a large and growing Latino population and powerful unions to make up ground. In 2024, Trump’s victory was due, in part, to rightward shifts in Clark County, a traditionally Democratic area centered on Las Vegas and where most of Nevada’s population resides.
During his speech, Trump highlighted fiscal policy as a bright spot in an economy that many voters say is still perceived as expensive and unstable; a contradiction that represents a problem for the president and his party just seven months before the midterm elections. Democrats are seizing the opportunity. A day before Trump’s visit, members of the Culinary Union, one of the most powerful mobilization machines in Democratic politics, focused on affordability as they knocked on doors for a state Senate race in a blue-collar area of east Las Vegas. The leaders of the culinary union have argued that immigration policies and Trump’s tariffs have hurt the Las Vegas economy.
Most of the people who answered the door on Wednesday proactively expressed their anger at Trump for his aggressive approach to immigration enforcement and how expensive life seemed to them under his watch. “For a long time I thought it didn’t matter much who was there,” Gregory McWilliams, a 72-year-old resident, said of who occupies the White House. “Now we see that it is a disaster.” McWilliams said he bought a watermelon this week for $11, which is $5 more than it used to cost. He added that he plans to get involved in Democratic Party politics for the first time in his life.
The overall economic picture has been uneven: Stock market gains, coupled with persistently high prices, have left many voters feeling discontented. Trump has argued that Americans don’t give him enough credit for reducing inflation and formalizing tax cuts, but that discrepancy is reflected in public opinion: according to the national poll average of Washington Post60% of Americans disapprove of the president. Trump hopes that last year’s tax cut and spending bill, which includes the “no tax on tips” provision, will convince voters that the White House is working hard to make their lives more affordable.
Flores said the policy of not taxing tips has motivated her son to return to work, a small step toward what she hopes will be greater support for the working class. The Republican establishment, led by the state’s governor, Joe Lombardo, who is in a tight race to retain his seat, argues that sky-high gasoline prices are due to the state’s dependence on California refineries, which are heavily regulated. California supplies the vast majority of Nevada’s fuel, and the state has long grappled with high gasoline prices. Lombardo did not appear with the president on Thursday, and he did not mention his candidacy.
The governor, in a statement, said he would meet separately with Trump. “Nevada loves President Trump,” declared Michael McDonald, the longest-serving chair of the Nevada Republican Party in history and a powerful Trump ally, as he arrived at the president’s Thursday event where he proposed eliminating the tip tax. He added that he was optimistic about Lombardo’s race, which the Democratic Party considers one of the closest in the country. Joanna Gorman, 72, a retired dietician and former chairwoman of a local Republican Women’s Party chapter, agrees that California is partly to blame, but says she knows that the price of gasoline has increased recently because Trump decided to declare war on Iran.
“I don’t blame Trump,” he said. “I had to go in there and fight, of course.” Gorman was not always willing to accept military action. In college, he traveled by bus to Washington to demonstrate against the Vietnam War and wore a bracelet engraved with the name of a prisoner of war, refusing to take it off until he returned home. But Gorman has changed his mind. Believe Trump when he says the United States must prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon; a trust in her president that, she says, began when she saw him on “The Apprentice” and strengthened as he defended a type of Christian culture that she recognized as her own.
“He can make a decision and stick with it,” she said. “I admire your bravery.” Even when that means gas is more expensive, he said, and his two pounds of grapes from Costco cost him $9.99.