Donald Trump: Taxes for rich should go up

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Sunday that taxes for the wealthy should go up but that his tax plans would likely be renegotiated with Congress should he win the US presidency. “For the wealthy, I think frankly it is going to go up and, you know what, it really should go up,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee told NBC’s Meet the Press.

“I am willing to pay more, and you know what, the wealthy are willing to pay more,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump, who effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination last week after the departure from the race of his two remaining rivals, has pledged to unify the party behind him.

Mr Trump said that he sees his current tax plans, which would reduce taxes for the middle class and businesses and increase those for the wealthy, as a negotiating “floor” that may change in dealings with Congress.

However, he added, “when it comes time to negotiate, I feel less concerned with the rich than I do with the middle class.”

Mr Trump also said in the interview that he is in favor of an increase in the minimum wage. “I don’t know how you live on $7.25 an hour,” he said, but added that he would rather leave it to individual states to decide on the issue.

There may be much Republican hand-wringing over Donald Trump’s presumptive nomination to face the Democratic candidate for the White House, but the boastful billionaire on Saturday said he doesn’t care, and it doesn’t matter.

A growing chorus of senior Republican leaders have joined the “anyone but Trump movement,” including 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and the last two Republican Presidents, George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush. “Does it have to be unified ” Mr Trump asked about the Republican Party.

“I’m very different than everybody else, perhaps, that’s ever run for office. I actually don’t think so,” he told ABC’s This Week in excerpts provided ahead of Sunday’s broadcast. “I think it would be better if it were unified, I think it would be — there would be something good about it. But I don’t think it actually has to be unified in the traditional sense.”

A group of conservatives opposed to Mr Trump’s candidacy, meanwhile announced it had launched a “formal effort” for an alternative candidate, though it stopped short of backing a contender from a third party.

“This is not just a fight for the heart and soul of the Republican Party; it is a battle for the future of our country,” Conservatives Against Trump said in a statement.

“This week, Conservatives Against Trump launched a formal effort to identify an acceptable alternative candidate to run for President against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.”

Mr Trump, however, said he expected even some Democratic voters to throw their support behind him to win the general election.