Story highlights Tax policymaking entails a series of trade-offs, David M. Smick says

Smick: If Trump delivers on tax reform, he'll have to make some hard political choices

David M. Smick is chairman and CEO of the macroeconomic advisory firm Johnson Smick International and founder and editor of the International Economy magazine. His new book is "The Great Equalizer: How Main Street Capitalism Can Create an Economy for Everyone." The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) Facing fierce criticism from the right on fiscal policy, President Donald Trump has developed a new sense of urgency. In an interview last weekend with Fox's Bill O'Reilly, when asked if Americans should expect a tax cut this year, instead of saying something along the lines of "yes, absolutely," Trump offered the more restrained, "I think so ... before the end of the year. I would like to say yes."

David M. Smick

Such an expression of caution is unusual for the 45th President. Yet Thursday, Trump suddenly shifted gears, promising to announce a "phenomenal" tax reform proposal in an amazingly short two to three weeks.

Reforming the tax code is likely to be far more politically complicated than the Trump officials, most of whom are new to Washington, think. As a congressional staff aide and later an outside adviser, I worked on both the 1981 and 1986 tax reform packages.

The process of seeking a consensus was difficult and time-consuming. In the case of the 1986 tax reform, it took years to resolve some serious differences. Trump will face a similar challenge in a much more compressed time period. Announcements are easy to make. Actually enacting tax reform is a lot more difficult.

The details of the President's plan have yet to be announced, but a rough outline exists. The outline largely reflects the House Republican tax reform plan. And the answer to two questions will likely determine the success of the overall effort:

Read More