Donald Trump live updates: President takes victory lap over the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ ahead of 4th July ‘Free America’ protests

On the way home from Des Moines, the president appeared to be celebrating his legislative win long into the night, posting this expression of amazement in the wee hours of the morning and clearly in too good a mood to threaten to unseat rebel Republicans Thomas Massie and Brian Fitzpatrick.

There was also this beaming praise for his cabinet and individual posts thanking congressional leaders John Thune, Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise as well as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent one after another.

The evening’s most controversial clip, however, was the following:

Here’s more from James Liddell.

President Donald Trump celebrated in Des Moines on Thursday night with a “Salute to America” address on the eve of the country’s 250th birthday after his contentious “Big, Beautiful Bill” finally passed the House of Representatives earlier in the day, boasting: “We’re the hottest in the world.”

Trump called the bill’s passage “a declaration of independence from a really national decline,” insisting: “We had a national decline. We were a laughingstock all over the world. We had a man as president who shouldn’t have been there.”

He also told his audience that he “hates” Democrats.

“All of the things we did with the tax cuts and rebuilding our military, not one Democrat voted for us. And I think we use it in the campaign that’s coming up, the midterms,” he said.

“But all of the things that we’ve given, and they wouldn’t vote. Only because they hate Trump. But I hate them, too. You know that? I really do, I hate them. I cannot stand them because I really believe they hate our country, you want to know the truth.”

He had plenty of other things to say – on Iran, immigration, Zohran Mamdani, the economy and Los Angeles:

• President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” finally passed the House of Representatives on Thursday, with members of Congress voting 218-214 in favor of the tax and spending legislation after months of haggling.
• Just two Republicans, Thomas Massie and Brian Fitzpatrick, broke ranks to side with opposition Democrats, despite much grandstanding beforehand from the hard-right House Freedom Caucus.
• The final floor vote was delayed by almost nine hours because of a record-breaking speech from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who took his “sweet time” to outline his party’s disgust at a bill he called “shameful” and a “disgusting abomination,” reading aloud letters from voters who warned they would suffer severe personal hardships because of its passage.
• Trump’s gargantuan bill is designed to boost defense and border security funding at the expense of the public safety net – and is forecast to add $3.3 trillion to the national debt while kicking off millions of people off Medicaid and food stamps.
• A jubilant Trump celebrated his victory in Congress by delivering a “Salute to America” speech in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday night as he kicked off the year-long celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
• He is now expected to sign the bill into law at a ceremony at the White House at 5pm ET on Friday to mark Independence Day, although “Free America” protests being held in cities across the nation threaten to upstage him.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries broke a record for the longest ever “magic minute” speech on the House floor earlier Thursday when he spoke for eight hours and 32 minutes.

During his speech, he criticized the opposition for betraying “everyday Americans” by slashing Medicaid in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill.

Jeffries shared a clip of his speech on X and captioned it “Good Trouble.”

Hardline conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus looked more like members of the Fealty Caucus on Thursday after a rebellion among the party’s spending hawks melted away in the final hours and the House passed the legislation known as the “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” on Thursday.

President Donald Trump wins, while just about every wing of the GOP congressional caucuses suffered an embarrassment in some form or another (except maybe the leadership).

The Freedom Caucus was the last faction to face down its foe and blink. The group’s members circulated a three-page memo to members of the GOP caucus over Wednesday decrying the Senate-passed version of “One Big, Beautiful Bill” as a betrayal of the framework Speaker Mike Johnson had agreed to.

It was an all-encompassing retreat. Rep. Ralph Norman left the White House this week with a three-point plan he said GOP leaders could implement to get his vote to a “yes”. He received none of those concessions — no one did, as the House passed the version of the bill sent back from the Senate. Amending the bill in any way would have sent it back to the Senate before it reached Trump’s desk, endangering the July 4 deadline that members in both chambers blasted as arbitrary.

President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill passed the House earlier Thursday, prompting chants of “USA” in the lower chamber.

President Donald Trump said he’s traveling back to Washington, D.C.

“I’m on Air Force One, traveling back to Washington from the Great State of Iowa, with many of our wonderful and talented Cabinet Secretaries, including Kristi Noem, Doug Burgum, Brooke Rollins, Lee Zeldin, and others in the Administration like Steve Miller, James Blair, SUPERSTAR Karoline Leavitt, and the legendary, first female Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, etc.,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late Thursday night.

President Donald Trump gave a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday night as he kicked off the year-long celebration of America’s 250th birthday and celebrated the passage of his “big, beautiful bill.”

The crowd cheered as Trump listed the accomplishments of his bill.

Trump said his bill provides the “largest tax cut in American history” and boasted about the billions in funding it allocates toward border security to help with his massive deportation plan.

He also suggested he would soften his immigration crackdown on farms, saying, “We want the farms to be great.” Iowa is a big agricultural state.

Trump railed against congressional Democrats, saying they voted against his bill “only because they hate Trump.”

“But I hate them too…I cannot stand them because I really believe they hate our country,” he said.

Democrats strongly opposed Trump’s bill over its cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

Trump ended his speech by saying he’s “very proud to be American” and called Iowa “such a great place.”

Trump plans to hold a signing ceremony Friday afternoon after the House narrowly approved the sweeping tax and immigration bill ahead of his July 4 deadline.

• President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” headed back to the House of Representatives for further consideration after narrowly passing the Senate on Tuesday.
• The Senate vote required a tie-breaking intervention from Vice President JD Vance after three Republican senators opposed the legislation, resulting in a 50-50 split.
• After a long night of haggling with the holdouts, the bill passed a key procedural House vote, paving the way for a floor vote on Thursday.
• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries made himself a final barrier to a last round of votes by speaking as long as he could on the House floor in a potentially record-breaking “magic minute” speech.
• The House passed Trump’s bill on Thursday in a 218-214 vote, with just two Republicans included in the latter total
• Trump’s extensive tax and spending bill is designed to boost defense and border security funding at the expense of public safety net — and is forecast to add $3.3 trillion to the national debt while kicking off millions of people off Medicaid and food stamps.
• The president gave a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday night as he kicked off the year-long celebration of America’s 250th birthday and celebrated the passage of his bill.
• Trump is expected to sign the bill into law on Friday to mark Independence Day.