Trump said 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 how Democrats would react, citing President George H. W. Bush's infamous "read my lips: no new taxes" comment that would later come back to haunt him.

WASHINGTON—Fifteen days after taking a marginal tax-rate increase off the table, President Trump put it back in play. The president, who rejected a “millionaire tax” April 23, is now considering backing a tax structure that would return the top individual income-tax rate to 39.

The president is said to want to create a new top income bracket for people making more than $2.5 million per year and to tax income above that level at a rate of 39.6 percent.