Trump wins ‘phenomenal' victory as Congress passes flagship bill
The jubilant president kicked off America's year-long 250th birthday celebrations with a victory lap hailing the unpopular bill, which has caused deep concern within his own Republican Party — as well as, polls show, among many Americans.
Many fear that it will balloon the national debt, gut health and welfare support as well as clean energy, and supercharge Trump's migrant crackdown.
'There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago,' Trump told supporters in the state capital, Des Moines.
'Very simply, the one, big beautiful bill would deliver the strongest border on Earth, the strongest economy on Earth, the strongest military on Earth, and ensure the United States of America will remain the strongest country anywhere on this beautiful planet of ours.'
The bill squeezed past a final vote earlier Thursday, 218-214, after a small group of Republican opponents in the House of Representatives finally fell in line, corralled by Speaker Mike Johnson.
Trump said he would sign the bill into law on Friday, American Independence Day, adding that pilots who had carried out US strikes on Iran two weeks earlier would be in attendance.
The legislation is the latest in a series of big wins for Trump, including a Supreme Court ruling last week that curbed lone federal judges from blocking his policies, and US air strikes that led to a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
His sprawling mega-bill narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday and had to return to the lower chamber for its approval of the senators' revisions.
The package honors many of Trump's campaign promises: boosting military spending, funding a mass migrant deportation drive and committing $4.5 trillion to extend his first-term tax relief.
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