President Donald Trump suggested moving nearly 90,000 IRS agents hired during the Biden administration to patrol the border, armed with firearms, during a rally at the Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday evening.
“On day one, I immediately halted the hiring of any new IRS agents. They hired, or tried to hire, 88,000 new workers to go after you. And we’re in the process of developing a plan to either terminate all of them or maybe we’ll move them to the border. And I think we’re going to move them to the border,” Trump said.
He continued, “Where they’re allowed to carry guns, you know, they’re so strong on guns, but these people are allowed to carry guns, so we’ll probably move them to the border.” Certain special IRS agents are authorized to carry firearms as part of their duties under U.S. tax code.
The rally came after Trump toured areas affected by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and wildfires in California.
Trump also floated the idea of eliminating income tax entirely, proposing tariffs as a financial replacement. “How about just no tax,” he told the crowd. “If the tariffs work out like I think, a thing like that could happen, if you want to know the truth.”
Citing historical precedent, Trump said, “Years ago, 1870 to 1913, we didn’t have an income tax. We had tariffs, where foreign countries came in and they stole our jobs, our companies, our products. And the tariff system made so much money. We were the richest from 1870 to 1930, and then we came in with an income tax. Brilliantly, right?” He noted that the Great Depression followed the move away from tariffs.
The Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Democrats in 2022, included $80 billion for the IRS to hire approximately 87,000 new agents over a decade. Trump has been a vocal critic of the policy.
During the rally, Trump reiterated his pledge to eliminate taxes on tips. “Any worker who relies on tips as income, your tips will be 100% yours,” he said, referencing Nevada’s service industry.
The president also highlighted his progress on campaign promises such as withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) and dismantling federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. “We got rid of the woke crap,” he declared. “A lot of crap… these companies, they were petrified of it.”
