President Donald Trump said Friday that he would be “OK” with raising taxes on the nation’s highest earners, though he cautioned that such a move could pose political risks for Republicans.

His remarks followed a Punchbowl News report on Thursday claiming Trump is pressuring House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to include tax hikes on the wealthy in his sweeping “big, beautiful bill.” According to The Hill, which cited three sources, the White House is open to allowing Trump’s previous marginal income tax cuts for top earners to expire, while preserving tax relief for lower income brackets.

“The problem with even a ‘TINY’ tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming, ‘“’Read my lips,’ the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election! In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I’m OK if they do!!!” he added.

Trump’s reference to former President George H.W. Bush harkens back to Bush’s decision to compromise with Congressional Democrats and raise several existing taxes, despite his famous campaign pledge: “Read my lips: no new taxes.” During the 1992 election cycle, Bill Clinton seized on the broken promise, using it as a key line of attack. Clinton ultimately defeated Bush in that election, while independent candidate Ross Perot captured 18.9% of the popular vote.

Trump’s proposed tax increase on the wealthy would reportedly target only individuals earning more than $2.5 million annually, or $5 million for joint filers—a threshold significantly higher than the current 2024 top tax bracket, which applies to incomes above $609,351 for single filers and $731,201 for joint filers. According to Punchbowl News, the plan would raise the top marginal tax rate from the current 37% back to 39.6%, the rate in place prior to Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.

The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from conservatives and congressional Republicans, including some of Trump’s staunchest allies, who oppose any tax hikes on high earners.

“That would be a tax on every small business, every job creator. And you know what? That’s what Kamala Harris campaigned on,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said during a Thursday appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “And I gotta say, the folks in the administration, they’ve decided to call themselves populists, but just being a Democrat and wanting higher taxes and more regulation, that’s not populist. That’s embracing the failed ideas of Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden.”

Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, stated on Wednesday, “President Trump ran on making all the tax rates reductions permanent. Kamala Harris ran on letting the top income tax rates reductions passed by Trump to spring back to the higher pre-Trump/Obama tax rate. All tax rate increases damage economic growth and kill jobs by disincentivizing work and investment.”