WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump applauded Republicans for passing a sweeping tax bill Wednesday, but even in victory, he grumbled about not being able to get Democrats on board.
During a cabinet meeting Wednesday, Trump said the “historic” bill would be an “incredible Christmas gift for hardworking Americans” and touted the lower corporate rate that he says will keep businesses in the country.
“That’s probably the biggest factor in our plan,” he said of a plan that he pitched as “rocket fuel” for the economy and a needed-break for America’s middle class.
“Unfortunately, the Democrats don’t like to see tax cutting; they like to see tax increases,” Trump said, saying the party’s members “complain a lot” but “don’t get it done, unfortunately.”
For that reason, GOP senators and members of Congress would come to the White House later Wednesday — after the House re-votes on the measure after their version was found to violate Senate rules — to celebrate the bill’s passage. The bill also marks the first significant legislative achievement of Trump’s presidency.
And while Trump mostly focused on how the bill slashed corporate rates and would cause jobs to “start pouring into the country” as a result, he also trumpeted the repeal of the individual health care mandate, a key component of Obamacare, which was tucked inside the legislation.
“We have essentially repealed Obamacare,” Trump claimed, though previous attempts to fully repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s cornerstone health care legislation failed repeatedly on Capitol Hill earlier this year.
Trump also predicted a market surge in the aftermath of the tax bill’s passage.
“I don’t think the market’s even begun to realize how good these are,” Trump said.
Americans, meanwhile, should start seeing the impact of the bill by February, he predicted, describing the bill’s “heart” as “a tremendous amount of relief for the middle class” through the childcare tax credit and nearly doubled standard deduction.
Vice President Mike Pence offered congratulations to the president for what he called a year of work that restored American credibility on the world stage, while delivering on a “middle class miracle” back home.
Trump has previously said the tax bill would cost him “a fortune,” but an NBC News analysis of an earlier draft shows he and his family could save more than $1 billion. Asked about this Wednesday, Trump ignored the question.
The president trumpeted the legislation on Twitter Wednesday morning, calling the tax cuts “so large and so meaningful,” promising more “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!” to follow.
Trump’s celebration of the tax bill’s success will be a full day affair on Wednesday. The president will entertain Republicans from the House and Senate to fête the bill’s passage at the White House, though he will not sign the bill at that time.