Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump will sign his flagship tax and spending bill Friday in a pomp-laden Independence Day ceremony featuring fireworks and a flypast by the type of stealth bomber that bombed Iran. Trump pushed Republican lawmakers to get his unpopular “One Big Beautiful Bill” through a reluctant Congress in time for him to sign it into law on the US national holiday — and they did so with a day to spare Thursday.
Ever the showman, Trump will now meld a victory lap over the bill — which cements his radical second term agenda — with a grand party at the White House marking 249 years of independence from Britain. Trump announced that he would have a signing ceremony at the White House at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT) on Friday, and that the pilots who carried out the bombing on Iran were among those who had been invited.
“We have the hottest country anywhere in the world today,” the jubilant president told supporters at a rally in Iowa Thursday where he boasted of a “phenomenal” victory in passing the bill. “The age of America is upon us. This is a golden age.” The bill is the latest in a series of big political wins at home and abroad for Trump, and underlines the 79-year-old’s dominance over both the Republican Party and US politics at large, for now.
But the tycoon and former reality TV star has glossed over deep concerns from his own party and voters that it will balloon the national debt, and gut health and welfare support. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that the ceremony would be “on the Fourth of July, just as the president always said and hoped it would be.” First Lady Melania Trump was also set to attend the Independence Day event.
The president’s wife had told reporters on Thursday that a B-2 bomber, the type of aircraft that bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 22, and fighter jets would carry out a flypast for the July 4 event. Trump told the rally-goers in Iowa that the pilots and others who worked on the mission would join him for the festivities. “They’re going to be in Washington tomorrow, at the White House, we’re going to be celebrating,” he said.
– Deep Misgivings – Trump forced through the 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.
The sprawling mega-bill 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. 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 the US air strikes that led to a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
But it is expected to pile an extra $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.
Democrats hope public opposition to the bill will help them flip the House in the 2026 midterm election, pointing to data showing that it represents a huge redistribution of wealth from the poorest Americans to the richest.
© 2024 AFP
