House Republicans lifted President Donald Trump’s $4.5 trillion tax breaks and spending cuts bill to final passage Thursday, overcoming multiple setbacks to approve his signature second-term policy package before a self-imposed Fourth of July deadline.
Watch Trump’s remarks in the video player above.
The tight roll call, 218-214, came at a potentially high political cost, with two Republicans joining all Democrats opposed.
WATCH: House Republicans pass Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax and spending bill
GOP leaders worked overnight and the president himself leaned on a handful of skeptics to drop their opposition and send the bill to his desk to become law.
The passage of the 800-plus page “big beautiful bill” will likely become a defining milestone of Trump’s return to the White House, and it’s indicative of the power the right wields in this majority-Republican Congress.
Trump talks about weapons pause for Ukraine and call with Putin
Before boarding Air Force One to fly to Iowa, Trump made his first public comments about his administration pausing weapons transfers to Ukraine.
“We’ve given so many weapons,” he said. “We are working with them and trying to help them.”
But he suggested that his predecessor provided too much.
“Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves,” he said.
WATCH: U.S. withholds weapons promised to Ukraine as Russian forces gain more territory
Trump said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin talked about Iran and the war in Ukraine during “a pretty long call” Thursday morning. He said he didn’t make any progress on a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine.
“I’m not happy about that,” Trump said. “I didn’t make any progress with him today at all.”
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