‘Always fun when you win:’ Triumphant Trump touts tax bill victory.

Democrats: Benefits mostly go to wealthy

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump enthusiastically declared victory Wednesday after Congress passed a massive tax cut bill, handing him the first major legislative achievement of his 11month-old presidency.

“It’s always a lot of fun when you win,” Trump told Republican lawmakers at a pep-rallylike event at the White House. “We broke every record,” he said, referring to the size of the tax cuts.

Trump had been pushing Republicans hard to pass the tax bill before the end of the year. Trump invited Republicans to the White House to trumpet the passage of the tax bill. The tax cuts total nearly $1.5 trillion over the next decade.

Trump praised numerous Republicans, including two he has previously clashed with over legislative strategy during his turbulent first year in office: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

But it wasn’t all goodwill between Trump and Congress. At a Cabinet meeting hours earlier, Trump bashed congressional Democrats who called the tax plan a giveaway to the wealthy.

Democrats have warned that the tax relief benefits favors the rich, and that the loss of deductions will raise taxes for people in some hightax states. They also say that laws designed to curb the deficit will be triggered and could force cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

And despite Trump’s optimism about the economic growth the cut will create, the nonpartisan scorekeeper in Congress said the bill would cut revenues by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years but only raise one-third of that in new growth.

The national debt, according to the CBO, is estimated to increase by $1 trillion under the new bill.

Trump promoted what he considers the key accomplishments of his first year on the job. During his Cabinet meeting, Trump cited his immigration, economic, and anti-regulation agenda, and said that “we have done a job like no other administration.” And at the White House, Trump also noted that the tax bill includes a provision allowing oil drilling in the Alaskan wilderness.