Trump is set to formally unveil his tax plan in Indianapolis on Wednesday. As he and fellow Republicans have previewed their ambitions, “tax reform” has been the term most commonly used by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) — suggesting a more ambitious rewrite of the tax code.

At public events, Trump has often used the terms interchangeably and sometimes promised major “tax reform” and major “tax cuts” in the same sentence.

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But, according to several participants at Monday’s dinner, Trump said he prefers “tax cuts” because “tax reform” might suggest that some taxes are going down while others are going up.

“I think he liked the idea of communicating very clearly that people's taxes will be reduced,” said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, who attended the dinner. “The problem with the term 'reform' is it can mean different things to different people.”

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Schlapp and others also said Trump, who has been dealt multiple defeats on the health-care front, wants to be done with tax legislation by the end of the year.

“Clearly the president is focusing like a laser beam on tax relief, and he is determined to get it done this year,” Schlapp said.

A Ryan aide played down any differences in semantics between Trump and the speaker, saying Ryan sees tax cuts as central to tax reform and expects the GOP-led Congress and the White House to be on the same page when it comes to selling the public on the plan.