Trump again pledges tax cut if voters return House to Republicans

- US President Donald Trump again vowed on Friday that America's middle class would see a "major tax cut" if the Republican Party regained control of the House of Representatives.

Trump has made strong US economic performance a central campaign selling point ahead next year's elections -- and says his agenda of tax cuts, deregulation and confronting trade partners has delivered it.

But a previous promised tax cut for middle income earners never materialized. Critics say cuts benefiting richer Americans have in any case caused the US budget deficit to skyrocket to almost $1 trillion.

"We're going to be doing a major middle income tax cut if we take back the House," Trump told reporters at the White House.

"That will be subject to taking over the House because Democrats like tax increases, not tax cuts," he added. In October last year, Trump said his administration was working on a "very major" middle class tax cut that would be announced ahead of the November midterms and passed afterwards.

US media reported that White House aides had no idea what he was talking about and observers pointed out that Congress was not even in session to debate such a cut.

There was no announcement and the promise of a cut did not in any case sway voters who handed the Republican-led House to the Democrats in one of the biggest swings in modern history.

Economists say the world's largest economy is slowing, as a sluggish global economy weakens demand for US goods and services and Trump's trade wars put a dent in business investment and manufacturing.