Trump disses Republican in expletive-filled warning to lawmakers opposed to his 'big beautiful bill': Live updates

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

President Trump dissed a key House Republican who is among a group of relative centrists pushing to raise the cap on state and local tax deductions that is hammering homeowners in his districts.

The current cap imposed by Trump’s 2017 tax cuts is set at $10,000. A group of moderates wants to raise it to $30,000 to bring in pricey real estate in their districts.

'There’s some people that want a couple of things that maybe I don’t like or that they’re not going to get,’ Trump said before the closed door meeting with House Republicans. Budget-cutting conservatives are opposing the move.

Trump used the meeting to push back at Rep. Mike Lawler, a potential candidate for governor of New York.

Fox News reported that Trump told Republicans: ‘I know your district better than you do. If you lose because of SALT, you were going to lose anyway.’

Lawler has been telling Republicans Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ bill will fail without a deal with lawmakers seeking to boost the deduction. Trump began the day by attacking the policy move as coming from Blue states governed by political rivals. ‘They’re all Democrat states,’ Trump said.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

Melania Trump joined the children of White House staff in making flags for Take Your Child to Work Day.

She hosted the activity for the kids in the First Ladies' Garden outside the East Wing. She waved and shook hands with the parents, who stood on the sidelines for the event.

'Tell me some stories,' she said to the children as she joined them at the picnic tables. 'What do you do? What do you like to do?'

Several children brought their flags to the first lady to show off their work. Some of the wore 'Gulf of America' baseball caps, which were in the gift bags handed out.

Melania also decorated a flag of her own, adding two giant glitter stars to the traditional 13 stripes.

She encouraged the children to check out the other events on the White House lawn, which included a cookie booth, a Secret Service demonstration and access to the putting green.

'Thank your parents for what they do,' she told the children, whose parents work in the Executive Office of the President. 'Thank your parents for their service.'

The president’s daughter gushed online now that the Senate has confirmed her father-in-law Charles Kushner as U.S. ambassador to France following his nomination by her father President Trump.

Ivanka Trump sent her congratulations, called him ‘dad,’ and celebrated in French.

‘Félicitations, papa. Je suis fière de toi!’ she wrote, with U.S. and French flag emojis.

Trump pardoned Kushner in 2020 after he pleaded guilty to making false statements and witness tampering. His nomination passed the Senate with 51 votes, with only Democrat Cory Booker and Republican Lisa Murkowski voting in opposition.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

Trump talked up his recently concluded trip to the Middle East, after announcing multi-billion investments deals in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

‘I went to the Middle East. And those leaders of those three countries are powerful people. They respect our country. China was going to take them over,’ Trump said at the Capitol after meeting with GOP lawmakers.

‘They’re not going to China anymore – they love us and we love them,’ Trump said. He brought up the trip after discussing the economy, saying ‘everybody’s buying eggs, groceries are down’ and ‘they’re buying gasoline now for $1.99,’ although today’s AAA average national gas price is $3.18.

During the closed-door meeting with House Republicans, Trump apparently said that Medicaid wouldn't be touched in his 'big beautiful bill' negotiations.

'Don’t f*** around on Medicaid,' Trump said, sources in room told CNN.

Negotiations over just how much to cut and where are proving tricky as Medicaid is popular in many GOP-controlled districts, potentially exposing the lawmakers to challenges in the midterms next year.

Attacking the government health program that provides healthcare for close to 80 million Americans, about 25 percent of the U.S. population, including children, the elderly and the sick, has been an unpopular position for any lawmakers.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

President Donald Trump threatened Republican ‘grandstanders’ who won’t vote for his ‘big, beautiful bill,’ warning that they won’t be members of the party much longer if they go against him.

The president went to Capitol Hill to attend the House Republicans’ weekly meeting in an attempt to unify lawmakers in his party behind his budget package. Or else.

‘This is the biggest tax cut in the history of our country or you will get a 68% tax increase,’ he said of the proposal.

‘If that happens, what Republican could vote for that to happen because they wouldn’t be a Republican much longer. They would be knocked out so fast.’ Trump, in the past, has backed primary challengers to Republican lawmakers who voted against him.

‘I'm a cheerleader for this party and the country. Much more importantly for the country,’ he told reporters on Capitol Hill. ‘But I'm a cheerleader for the party and we are going to go up and I think have a very good discussion.'

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

President Donald Trump ripped an effort by lawmakers from blue-leaning states to try to eliminate the $10,000 cap known ask the SALT deduction.

The limit on state and local tax write-offs is a major sticking point on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ but the president on Monday insisted he has not plans to deal a win to states run by leading political rivals.

‘SALT is a very interesting thing,’ Trump told reporters, before ripping Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker as someone who ‘is going nowhere’ and the ‘worst governor in the country.’ Then he attacked ‘Gavin Newscum’ in California. ‘

‘Those are the people that want this and they’re Democrat states. They’re all Democrat states,’ Trump said, although House Republicans in his former home state of New York are also pushing to lift the cap, which dates to Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.

‘We’re going to be making a couple of tweaks. We don’t want to benefit Democrat governors,’ Trump said. Both Pritzker and Gavin Newsom are potential Democratic contenders for president in 2028.

President Donald Trump stunned guests at a formal Kennedy Center board dinner on Monday evening with a profane remark during a wide-ranging speech that mixed his political grievances with sharp criticism of the arts institution's previous leadership.

Speaking in the White House State Dining Room to newly appointed Kennedy Center trustees and administration officials, Trump referenced the 2020 election while discussing his role in bringing major global sporting events to the United States.

'We got the Olympics and then we got through Gianni, he's the boss, he's a friend of mine, we got the World Cup,' Trump said. 'I got them both and I said, "Man, I won't be president and they're gonna forget that I got them. Nobody's gonna mention it."'

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden struggled in the last months of the 2024 presidential campaign, but one event in particular effectively ended their efforts to include him in events.

Biden also initially wanted to wait a few days before endorsing her for president.

She was not happy about that idea.

Trump posted on Truth Social last week:

Republicans MUST UNITE behind, “THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!” Not only does it cut Taxes for ALL Americans, but it will kick millions of Illegal Aliens off of Medicaid to PROTECT it for those who are the ones in real need.

The Country will suffer greatly without this Legislation, with their Taxes going up 65%. It will be blamed on the Democrats, but that doesn’t help our Voters.

We don’t need “GRANDSTANDERS” in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE! It is time to fix the MESS that Biden and the Democrats gave us.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Melania Trump added her signature as husband Donald signed a bill into law that she strongly campaigned for.

It was an unprecedented move for a first lady and one that showed Melania's ownership of the cause.

The new Take It Down Act provides protections for victims of revenge porn and it marked her first major legislative success.