Flanked by Republican legislators and members of his Cabinet, Trump signed the multitrillion-dollar legislation outside the White House, and then banged down the gavel that House Speaker Mike Johnson gifted him that was used during the bill’s final passage Thursday.
Against odds that at times seemed improbable, Trump achieved his goal of celebrating a historic — and divisive — legislative victory in time for the nation’s birthday. Fighter jets and a stealth bomber streaked through the sky over the annual White House Fourth of July picnic as Trump and first lady Melania Trump stepped out onto the White House balcony.
“America’s winning, winning, winning like never before,” Trump said, noting last month’s bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, which he said the flyover was meant to honor. “Promises made, promises kept and we’ve kept them.”
The White House was hung with red, white and blue bunting for the regular Fourth of July festivities. The United States Marine Band played patriotic marches — and, in a typical Trumpian touch, tunes by 1980s pop icons Chaka Khan and Huey Lewis. The two separate flyovers bookended Trump’s appearance and the band playing the national anthem.
Democrats assailed the package as a giveaway to the rich that will rob millions more lower-income people of their health insurance, food assistance and financial stability.
“I never thought that I’d be on the House floor saying that this is a crime scene,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said during a record-breaking speech that delayed the bill’s passage by eight-plus hours. “It’s a crime scene, going after the health, and the safety, and the well-being of the American people.”
The legislation extends Trump’s 2017 multitrillion-dollar tax cuts and cuts Medicaid and food stamps by $1.2 trillion. It provides for a massive increase in immigration enforcement. Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper projects that nearly 12 million more people will lose health insurance under the law.
Trump exulted in his political victory Thursday night in Iowa, where he attended a kickoff of events celebrating the country’s 250th birthday next year.
“I want to thank Republican congressmen and women, because what they did is incredible,” he said. The president complained that Democrats voted against the bill because “they hate Trump — but I hate them, too.”
