Trump says he’s ‘sharper’ now while floating radical income tax overhaul in Cabinet session

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump held a lengthy Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, December 2, to vehemently defend his mental and physical stamina while floating a radical proposal to eliminate the federal income tax.

Addressing his top officials and the press pool, the president pushed back against recent reports questioning his energy levels, specifically targeting The New York Times for suggesting that he was showing signs of fatigue.

Trump says he aced exams, mocks media scrutiny over fitness

Trump said that he had "aced" his recent cognitive and physical exams and mocked the media scrutiny.

"I sit here, I do four news conferences a day. I ask questions from very intelligent lunatics, you people, I give the right answers," Trump told the reporters present.

He insisted that his ability to handle the press was proof of his fitness.

"There's never a scandal, there's never a problem. I give you answers that solve your little problems. If I go one day where I didn't do a news conference, 'there's something wrong with the president,'" he claimed.

The president's defiance came on the heels of the White House releasing a summary of his MRI results from an October physical.

White House physician Sean P Barbabella called the results "normal," noting the exam was conducted simply because men of the president's age benefit from thorough cardiovascular evaluations.

"I'll let you know when there's something wrong," Trump assured the room. "There will be some day that's going to happen to all of us. But right now, I think I'm sharper than I was 25 years ago."

Proposal to eliminate federal income tax

Shifting from personal health to economic policy, Trump revisited his controversial idea of replacing the federal income tax with revenue generated from sweeping tariffs.

"I believe that at some point in the not too distant future, you won't even have income tax to pay," Trump declared.

He claimed that the money the US took in from his trade policies would be "so enormous" that the traditional tax structure would become obsolete.

"Whether you get rid of it or just keep it around for fun, or have it really low, much lower than it is now, but you won't be paying income tax," he added.

Such a massive change to the tax code would require Congressional approval, and the Supreme Court had already appeared skeptical of the administration's broad use of emergency powers to impose tariffs.

Budget director highlights aggressive deregulation

The meeting also served as a platform for administration officials to showcase their achievements.

White House Budget Director Russ Vought highlighted the administration's aggressive deregulation efforts.

"Last time I was here, I said that the amount of [deregulatory actions] that we had for regulatory was 30 to one. Since then, it’s up to 48 to one," Vought told the president.

Vought noted that this far exceeded the administration's original goal of a ten-to-one ratio.