Paul Ryan isn't buying Trump's math on the corporate tax rate

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) publicly checked President Trump's math in an interview Thursday with The New York Times. After he got through expressing his disagreement with Trump's decision to sign on to Democrats' proposal for a short-term debt hike, Ryan made clear that he thinks Trump's push for a 15 percent corporate tax rate is "unrealistic," the Times reported.

Ryan went so far as to suggest that Trump's "math did not add up," and that a corporate tax rate in "the mid to low 20 percent range was more likely and would make American businesses more competitive," the Times wrote. "He obviously wants to push that as low as possible. At the end of the day we have to make these numbers work," Ryan said.

Differences aside, Ryan is still confident that Trump will get tax reform done. "On tax reform, he's very very engaged," Ryan said. "He is very committed to selling tax reform."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Read more of Ryan's comments on the debt ceiling, as well as the DACA program for young immigrants, at The New York Times.