OXON HILL, Md.- President Trump believes it was his branding instincts that brought tax reform legislation across the finish line last year, subverting Washington conventions that have doomed other efforts. And he makes a good argument.
Trump touted the tax bill at length during his remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, drawing enthusiastic applause from a rowdy crowd of the conservative faithful. But without his messaging advice, Trump argued, there may not have been anything to applaud.
“Don’t use the word ‘reform,'” he remembered advising his congressional allies. “No wonder for 45 years nothing’s been passed,” the president marveled, “because people want tax cuts and they don’t know what reform means.”
Trump posited that the word “reform,” to some voters, may indicate they’re going to end up paying more.
“People want tax cuts,” he emphasized.
Trump’s intuitive messaging techniques are unorthodox by Washington standards, but may turn out to be one of his lasting impacts on politics, inspiring lawmakers to ditch staid language that doesn’t resonate beyond the Beltway.
