U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss’ push to cut taxes for her country’s highest earners was a “mistake,” President Biden stated Saturday.
Truss was forced to scrap large portions of her tax plan last week amid market turmoil and disintegrating public confidence. White House officials had hitherto declined to comment on Truss’ policies, but Biden broke his silence while eating ice cream with reporters in Oregon.
“I was not the only one that thought it was a mistake,” Biden said. “I think the idea of cutting taxes on the super-wealthy at a time when — anyway, I disagreed with the policy, but that’s up to Great Britain to make that judgment, not me.”
Truss had initially pushed to eliminate the U.K.’s top tax bracket, effectively cutting taxes for citizens making more than $168,000 per year. While she scrapped that plan in early October, it did little to stabilize markets.
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King Charles III greets Prime Minister Liz Truss in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace ahead of other dignitaries arriving to Westminster Hall on Sunday.
(Kirsty O’Connor – WPA Pool)
She was ultimately pushed to fire her Treasury chief and longtime friend, Kwasi Kwarteng, last week. She also walked back a promise to cancel an increase in taxes on corporations.
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The British’ Pound’s value plummeted to near-parity with the U.S. dollar when Kwarteng first announced Truss’s tax cut plan in late September. Truss’ walk-backs have succeeded in increasing the Pound’s value from $1.03 to $1.12.
US President Joe Biden stops for ice cream at Baskin Robbins in Portland, Oregon, October 15, 2022.
(SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden argued the U.S. economy is “strong as hell” in his Saturday comments. The assertion drew widespread criticism.
“I’m concerned about the rest of the world,” he said. “The problem is the lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries.”
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“It’s worldwide inflation that’s consequential,” he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
