Trump says he will eliminate taxes on workers' tips in a play for Nevada voters

• Donald Trump pledged to cut taxes on tipped income if he wins a second White House term.
• The promise came at his rally in Nevada, a major battleground state with a thriving hospitality sector that Republicans are looking to flip in November.
• The Nevada rally was the first Trump has held since he was convicted of 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial.

Former President Donald Trump said he would eliminate taxes on tipped income if he wins a second White House term, an effort to appeal to voters in the battleground state of Nevada, where he held his first rally Sunday since the historic conviction in a New York hush money trial.

"Hotel workers and people that get tips, you're going to be very happy because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips," Trump said at the Las Vegas rally. "We're going to do that right away, first thing in office."

More than 1 in 4 private sector workers in Nevada are employed in the tip-heavy hospitality industry, according to up-to-date state figures.

The Trump campaign later acknowledged that any policy eliminating taxes on tipped earnings would require congressional approval.

But eliminating taxes on tips is not currently under consideration by the House Republicans who are crafting legislation to extend Trump's 2017 tax cut package if he wins the White House in November.

Rather, Trump's campaign trail promise is a reflection of Nevada's status as a must-win state for both Democrats and Republicans.

"If we win Nevada, we win the whole thing," Trump said Sunday during a winding speech in extreme heat, throughout which Trump complained that his teleprompters were malfunctioning.

The rally marked Trump's first since he was convicted on May 30 of 34 felony counts