President Trump on Friday signed the sweeping, $1.5 trillion tax overhaul into law, right before heading off to Florida for the holidays.
“This is the bill right here, we’re very proud of it … I consider this very much a bill for the middle class, and for jobs. Corporations are literally going wild for his,” Trump said as he held up a page of the bill to show off his signature.
An ebullient Trump told the assembled group of reporters he wanted to sign the measure quickly because “I didn’t want you folks to say I wasn’t keeping my promise.”
“We did a rush job today. It’s not fancy but it’s the Oval Office. We expected a formal ceremony in two weeks,” he said after delivering on a pledge to finish work on the Republican priority by Christmas.
Asked if he planned to travel around the country to sell the tax plan, Trump said that wouldn’t be necessary because “It’ll sell itself” when taxpayers open their paychecks on Feb. 1 and notice lower withholding payments.
The White House plans an event to celebrate the signing on Jan. 3.
Trump, who is usually dismissive toward the press, handed signing pens to reporters, saying many of them “worked very hard” and “very fairly.”
“I particularly like the boom holders … and the cameramen,” he quipped.
Trump cited the repeal of the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act as of 2019 — repeating his contention that “we have essentially repealed ObamaCare,” though the law remains on the books.
Trump also signed the spending bill that cleared the House and Senate late Thursday to keep the government running through Jan. 19.
Afterward, he tweeted that just about every American will pay less in taxes or “at worst” break even next year.
“95% of Americans will pay less or, at worst, the same amount of taxes (mostly far less). The Dems only want to raise your taxes!” he wrote.
The spending bill included $4.7 billion in emergency funding requested by the administration for missile defense, including $700 million to repair two damaged antimissile-capable Navy warships, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In other remarks, Trump said he believed Democrats “already” regret not backing his tax bill and that he has made great strides in his relationship with lawmakers this year.
“I can call anyone now,” he said.
He also said he was confident he will be able to secure bipartisan support for infrastructure legislation in 2018, calling that issue “the easiest.”
The tax package — the largest such overhaul in decades — slashes the corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and also temporarily reduces the tax burden for most individuals as well.
Democrats had opposed the bill as a gift to the wealthy that would add $1.5 trillion to the $20 trillion national debt during the next 10 years.
The timing of this signing had been uncertain until Congress passed a short-term spending bill that suspended the “pay-go” rule, which requires that measures like the tax cut legislation be funded with automatic spending cuts to offset the cost, CBS News reported.
The $1.5 trillion tax measure would have required an average $150 billion in cuts in the next 10 years had the pay-go rule not been waived.