President Donald Trump Jokes About Abolishing Taxes on Gambling Winnings
Posted on: December 11, 2025, 08:02h.
Last updated on: December 11, 2025, 08:02h.
- Is President Donald Trump considering eliminating gambling taxes?
- The president joked about doing so, but such a change is unlikely
- The gaming industry is simply seeking to restore the gambling deduction on losses to 100%
The media went hysterical yesterday after President Donald Trump suggested he would consider eliminating the federal tax on gambling winnings.
Aboard Air Force One, taking questions from the media gaggle on Tuesday en route to the Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Pennsylvania Pocono Mountains, Trump was asked if he might consider eliminating the gambling tax.
“Mr. President, I was with you in Vegas when you had ‘No Tax on Tips’ for the hospitality industry. Have you ever considered no tax on gambling winnings?” asked an unidentified journalist.
No tax on gambling? I don’t know. We have ‘No Tax on Tips,’ no tax on Social Security, and we have no tax on overtime. No tax on gambling winnings? I don’t know about that,” Trump said with a smile and a laugh. “I’m going to have to think about that.”
While many news sites went wild reporting that the president is mulling an elimination of taxes on gambling earnings, Trump did not seem overly serious about his remarks. To watch Trump’s comments on gambling taxes, click here.
Gambling Tax Bills Have Bipartisan Support
The gaming industry isn’t seeking an elimination of federal taxes on gambling earnings but simply the restoration of deductions for losses against winnings. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act is to reduce the gambling loss deduction to 90% beginning next year.
Trump did not mention the OBBB tax provision relating to gambling during his event at the Mount Airy Casino Resort.
US Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) is seeking to restore the gambling deduction through the FAIR Bet Act in the House. In the Senate, US Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) authored the FULL House Act to remedy the gambling deduction back to 100%.
Both measures have strong bipartisan support. Titus’ FAIR Bet has 21 cosponsors, including eight Republicans. FULL House has five cosponsors, including four Republicans, with one being Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Cortez Masto has blamed Republican leadership in the Senate for stalling the FULL House Act unless pork is allowed to be tacked onto the statute.
It is a shame that we cannot pass this commonsense FULL House Act because Republicans want to weigh it down with unrelated measures. This is a Republican piece of legislation that is actually causing people to pay taxes on money they lost. It makes no sense,” Cortez Masto said in July.
“There is irony in @POTUS talking about affordability at a casino when tourism is down because of his policies, and the gaming industry struggles without a fix to the 90% tax deduction for gambling losses because of his Big, BS, Budget Bill,” Titus posted on X this week.
The American Gaming Association, which represents the interests of the commercial and tribal gaming industries in Washington, DC, and across the nation, has repeatedly called on Congress to restore the gambling deduction.
“[This] created an unfair precedent by taxing phantom income and uniquely penalizing a legal, heavily regulated activity,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “We encourage timely action to restore fairness and consistency in the tax code for American consumers.”
Trivial Federal Revenue Benefit
The gambling deduction cap being cut to 90% would have devastating consequences for professional gamblers. For the federal government, the tax benefit is inconsequential.
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the gambling losses rollback would only generate $1.1 billion in additional federal funding over an eight to 10-year period. The federal government spends about $800 million per hour.
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