MSNBC outlined the major problems in President Donald Trump's proposed tax cut plan, which drastically reduces the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent while lowering personal tax rates for high-income individuals at expense of almost all tax deductions that benefit the middle class.

On the April 27 edition of MSNBC's MSNBC Live, host Katy Tur discussed Trump's tax outline with correspondent Ali Velshi and conservative economist Peter Morici, outlining how the plan could greatly reduce the president's personal and business tax burden while saving the Trump family billions of dollars in future estate taxes. Velshi argued the proposed reductions in corporate tax rates and creation of a new income loophole for some contractors and business owners created “built-in unfairness” in the tax system. Morici added that Trump's plan would not assist the middle class and complained that the administration had only produced a one-page memo “with a lot of white space” despite having five months to craft substantial tax reform proposals:

During the next hour of MSNBC Live, Velshi introduced another segment on the proposed tax cuts by noting that Trump is making “a frantic last push for what has eluded him in his first 100 days: a major legislative accomplishment.” Joined by MSNBC contributor Charlie Sykes and Democratic strategist Steve McMahon, Velshi noted that “we don't actually know” what Trump's tax agenda is to which Sykes responded, “this is not a bill, it's basically a press release ... there is no meat to the substance.” Sykes added that, while he leans toward conservative tax policy, he does not think “there is any rational way” to claim Trump's plan helps the middle class or can avoid “blow[ing] an enormous hole in the federal deficit.” After Velshi detailed a laundry list of middle-class tax credits that “could go away” under the plan, McMahon highlighted that Trump's plan “is going to be an absolutely huge windfall for very wealthy people”: