1 of 2 | President Donald Trump speaks at an event at the Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday where he thanked his supporters in Nevada for delivering the state to him in November’s election. Photo by Bizuayehu Tesfaye/EPA-EFE
Jan. 25 (UPI) — President Donald Trump thanked his Nevada supporters for their votes in November’s election and touted his push to eliminate income taxes on tips during a visit to Las Vegas on Saturday.
Trump took the stage at the Circa Las Vegas Casino after introductory remarks by Las Vegas celebrity Rick Harrison and Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, praising his backers for the crucial role they played in delivering the state’s electoral votes to him.
“I just came here because I wanted to thank the people of Nevada for giving us such a big win,” he said.
November’s election marked the first time a Republican candidate has won the state in 20 years. He took the state with 50.6% of the vote compared with Kamala Harris‘s 47.5%.
The president also touted his campaign promise to eliminate taxes on tipped income, a proposal he first unveiled in June in Nevada, a state which has 350,000 working-class hospitality employees, many of whom are immigrants.
The proposal appeared to garner support among unionized casino workers whose leadership had thrown their support to Harris. The Democratic candidate later responded with her own promise to eliminate the tax.
“In the coming weeks, I’ll be working with Congress to get a bill on my desk that cuts taxes for workers, families, small businesses, and, very importantly, keeps my promise for a thing called ‘No tax on tips,'” Trump declared to applause.
“So if you’re a restaurant worker, a server, a valet … any other worker that relies on tipped income, your tips will be 100 percent yours,” he added.
His Las Vegas visit came at the end of a whirlwind tour of disaster areas in North Carolina, which was hit by floods following the devastation of Hurricane Helene last October, and Los Angeles, where wildfires killed at least 28 people, scorched 55,000 acres and destroyed 16,188 structures.
Trump indicated he would visit Nevada while touring the Los Angeles wildfire sites on Friday.
Las Vegas casino owners are among some of Trump’s biggest financial supporters. His single largest donor in 2024 was Miriam Adelson, the wife of the late Sheldon Adelson, founder of Las Vegas Sands casino empire. Adelson had a front-row seat at Trump’s inauguration this week, sitting directly behind former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Casino.org reported.
Circus Circus owner Phil Ruffin also attended the ceremony.
Among the attendees at Saturday’s event was Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia whose long prison sentence stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection was commuted by Trump this week, CNN reported.
Rhodes, who had been serving an 18-year stint for seditious conspiracy, was seen entering the event a few hours ahead of Trump’s scheduled remarks, the broadcaster said.
He and other members of the Oath Keepers on Friday were ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta to stay away from Washington D.C., or the grounds of the U.S. Capitol without first receiving court permission.
