Starbucks’ Howard Schultz: Trump’s tax cuts ‘robbing from the future of young people’

Starbucks Executive Chairman Howard Schultz said President Donald Trump missed an opportunity to do more for Americans with the implementation of the corporate tax cut.

“We are robbing from the future of young people in America who ultimately are going to have to pay for a $21 trillion tax deficit,” Schultz told Maria Bartiromo in an exclusive interview on “Mornings with Maria.”

Even so, Starbucks is one of many companies passing on savings to employees. According to Schultz, the company received about a $500 million boost from Trump’s corporate tax overhaul, which reduced the tax rate to 21% from from 35%.

“I personally did not believe that America needed a 21% corporate tax cut,” he said. “But, as a result of that, we gave a significant part of our tax benefit back to our people on top of what we had already done over the last couple of years.”

Starbucks currently employs 350,000 people worldwide and about 250,000 in the U.S. The chain also plans to open about 700 new stores this year, according to Schultz.

Schultz, who stepped down as chief executive in April, will oversee the chain's planned 30 Reserve Roastery emporiums and Reserve projects, according to Reuters.

On Tuesday, the chain launched the first of 1,000 upscale Reserve stores at its Seattle headquarters. Schultz attributed consumer optimism to the expansion plans.

“We believe we can create a premium experience,” he said. “We are bullish on the U.S.”

When Bartiromo asked whether Schultz planned to run for president in 2020, he replied: “I am doing everything I possibly can as a private citizen to advance the cause of the country.”