Donald Trump U-turn: Taxes on the rich will go up — probably

After vowing to give the rich a big fat tax break if he becomes president, Donald Trump now says the wealthy will likely end up paying more if he makes it to the White House.

And that would probably be because he would cave into the wishes of the Democrats, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee said in a confusing explanation of his tax plan.

In Trump's tax plan, the wealthiest individuals would get a tax break, with the top tax rate dropping from 39.6% to 25%.

But in an appearance on ABC, he predicted the taxes would go up. "On my plan they're going down. But by the time it's negotiated, they'll go up," he explained. "We're going to submit the optimum," he said of his tax proposal. "That's what I'd like to get and we'll fight for it. But from a practical standpoint, it's going to get renegotiated. And in my opinion, the taxes for the rich will go up ... somewhat."

Trump said his current tax plan — what he has been telling his supporters all along — would just be an opening gambit for Congress, acknowledging it would be changed, especially by Democrats who would insist on higher taxes for the rich.

"It's just a concept," he explained. "And I'll tell you what the real concept is: lower taxes for business, lower taxes for the middle class, lower taxes for everybody," Trump said.

"And then we're going start negotiating. So if I want to get lower taxes, which is very important to me, I'm not going to put in high taxes. And I'm not even going to put in what I necessarily want. I'm going to put in lower than I want, and we're going to negotiate," he added.

Trump said he personally would be willing to pay more in taxes. "I wouldn't mind paying more," he said. "And you know what? Wealthy are willing to pay more. We've had a very good run."

In another apparent U-turn Trump said he would consider raising the minimum wage law, contradicting what he has declared throughout his campaign. "I am looking at it and I haven't decided in terms of numbers. But I think people have to get more," he said on CNN.

Pressed on his sudden change, Trump said: "Well, sure it's a change. I'm allowed to change. You need flexibility, whether it's a tax plan where ... you know you're going to negotiate. But we're going to come up with something.

"But my real minimum wage is going to be — I'm going to bring companies back into this country and they're going to make a lot more than the $15 (£10) even," he said. "They're going to make a lot more than that."

"I don't know how you live on $7.25 an hour," he admitted. But he hopes it's the states, not the federal government that will make the change. "I would say let the states decide," he added.