Trump signs 'Big, Beautiful Bill' into law on Independence Day
"America is winning, winning, winning like never before," Trump said at the event where he signed the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" flanked by Republican lawmakers.
The party fell into line and pushed the bill through a reluctant Congress on Thursday, in time for Trump to sign the bill as he had hoped on the Fourth of July holiday marking America's 249th birthday.
Two B-2 bombers of the type that recently struck Iranian nuclear sites roared over the White House at the start of the ceremony, accompanied by fighter jets on their wingtips.
Pilots who carried out the bombing on Iran were among those invited to the White House event.
The passage of the unpopular bill caps two weeks of significant wins for Trump, including an Iran-Israel ceasefire that was sealed after what he called the "flawless" US air strikes on Iran.
Ever the showman, Trump melded his various victory laps into one piece of political theater at the ceremony marking 249 years of independence from Britain.
The sprawling mega-bill honors many of Trump's campaign promises: extending tax cuts from his first term, boosting military spending and providing massive new funding for Trump's migrant deportation drive.
Trump glossed over deep concerns from his own party and voters that it will balloon the national debt, while simultaneously gutting health and welfare support.
"The largest spending cut," Trump said with First Lady Melania Trump at his side, "and yet you won't even notice it."
Trump forced through the "big beautiful bill" despite deep misgivings in the Republican Party – and the vocal opposition of his billionaire former ally, Elon Musk.
It squeezed past a final vote in the House of Representatives 218-214 after Republican Speaker Mike Johnson worked through the night to corral the final group of dissenters.
Trump thanked Johnson at the White House event.
The legislation is the latest in a series of big wins for Trump that also included a Supreme Court ruling last week that curbed lone federal judges from blocking his policies, and a Nato deal to increase spending.
But the bill is expected to pile an extra US$3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit.
At the same time it will shrink the federal food assistance program and force through the largest cuts to the Medicaid health insurance scheme for low-income Americans since its 1960s launch.
Up to 17 million people could lose their insurance coverage under the bill, according to some estimates. Scores of rural hospitals are expected to close as a result.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Ukraine's Zelenskiy says latest phone call with Trump his most productive yet
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a meeting on the sidelines of NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands June 25, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that his latest conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump this week was the best and "most productive" he has had to date. "Regarding the conversation with the president of the United States, which took place a day earlier, it was probably the best conversation we have had during this whole time, the most productive," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. "We discussed air defence issues and I'm grateful for the willingness to help. The Patriot system is precisely the key to protection against ballistic threats." Zelenskiy said the two leaders had discussed "several other important matters" that officials from the two sides would be considering in forthcoming meetings. Trump told reporters on Friday that he had a good call with Zelenskiy and restated his disappointment at a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin over what he said was Moscow's lack of willingness to work toward a ceasefire. Asked whether the United States would agree to supply more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, as requested by Zelenskiy, Trump said: "They're going to need them for defense... They're going to need something because they're being hit pretty hard." Russia has intensified air attacks on Kyiv and other cities in recent weeks. Moscow's forces launched the largest drone attack of the 40-month-old war on the Ukrainian capital hours after Trump's conversation with Putin on Thursday. (Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksander Kozhukhar; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Diane Craft)
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
US deportees arrive in South Sudan, airport sources say
FILE PHOTO: U.S. flag and Judge gavel are seen in this illustration taken, August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo NAIROBI (Reuters) -An aircraft carrying U.S. deportees arrived in South Sudan on Saturday, two officials working at Juba airport said, after eightmigrants lost their last-ditch effort to halt their deportation by the Trump administration. An airport staffer speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters he had seen a document showing that the aircraft "arrived this morning at 6:00 am."(0400 GMT) An immigration official also said the deportees had arrived in the country but shared no further details, referring all questions to the National Security Service intelligence agency. Earlier, a South Sudan government source said U.S. officials had been at the airport awaiting the migrants' arrival. (Reporting by Nairobi bureau; additional reporting by Ryan Jones in Toronto and Andrea Shalal in Bedminster, New Jersey; editing by Diane Craft)
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
Where do trade talks stand in the rush to avert higher US tariffs?
WASHINGTON (AFP): As a Wednesday deadline approaches for steeper US tariffs to hit dozens of economies ranging from the EU to India, trade negotiations with President Donald Trump's administration are coming down to the wire. The levies taking effect July 9 were announced in April, with the White House citing a lack of "reciprocity" in trade relations. But they were swiftly halted, allowing room for talks. Days before their reimposition, where do things stand? - EU: 'Ready' for deal - The European Union said it is "ready for a deal" with Washington, with the bloc's trade chief meeting his US counterparts Thursday. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was targeting an "agreement in principle" when it came to the July 9 cutoff. With no deal, the US tariff on EU goods doubles from the "baseline" of 10 percent to 20 percent -- with Trump previously threatening a 50 percent level. - Vietnam: A pact with uncertainties - Washington and Hanoi unveiled a trade pact Wednesday with much fanfare and few details, but it allowed Vietnam to avoid Trump's initial 46 percent tariff. Under the agreement, Vietnamese goods face a minimum 20 percent tariff while products made elsewhere face a 40 percent levy -- a clause to restrict "transshipping" by Chinese groups. But there remain questions on how the higher levy would apply to products using foreign parts. There is also a risk that Beijing will adopt retaliatory measures, analysts warned. - Japan: Rice, autos at stake - Despite being a close US ally and major source of foreign investment, Japan might not escape Trump's tariff hike. Tokyo's trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa has made numerous trips to Washington through the end of June. But Trump recently criticized what he described as Japan's reluctance to open up further to US rice and auto exports. "I'm not sure we're going to make a deal," Trump said, adding that the country could pay a tariff of "30 percent, 35 percent, or whatever the number is that we determine." - India: A good position - Indian manufacturers and exporters want to believe they can avoid a 26 percent tariff. Negotiations between both countries have been going well for weeks, and Trump himself suggested at the end of June that a "very big" agreement was imminent. Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said the feedback he received "suggests positive developments." But he maintained that the situation was fluid. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stressed that agriculture and dairy products remain "very big red lines." - South Korea: Muted optimism - Seoul, which is already reeling from US tariffs on steel and autos, wants to avert a sweeping 25 percent levy on its other exports. Cooperation in shipbuilding could be a bargaining chip, but "at this stage, both sides still haven't clearly defined what exactly they want," said new President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday. "I can't say with confidence that we'll be able to wrap everything up by July 8," he added. - Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan in the wings - Other Asian economies including Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, which faces a 49 percent tariff, wait with bated breath. Indonesia has indicated willingness to boost energy, agriculture and merchandise imports from the United States. Bangladesh meanwhile is proposing to buy Boeing planes and step up imports of US agriculture products. Taiwan, for whom Washington is a vital security partner, faces a 32 percent duty without a pact. Although both sides have faced bumps along the way, Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim said "negotiators from both sides are working diligently" to find a path forward. - Switzerland: Hope for delay - Switzerland's government said Washington has acknowledged it was acting in good faith, and assumes its tariff level will remain at 10 percent on July 9 while negotiations continue. But without a decision by the president as of the end of June, Switzerland did not rule out that levies could still rise to a promised 31 percent. - AFP
