President visits
Trump attends business roundtable in Hialeah.
President Donald Trump turned his attention to taxes at a business roundtable in Hialeah on Monday, marking the beginning of a weeklong visit to South Florida.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, he’ll switch his focus to foreign affairs, hosting Japanese leader Shinzo Abe and his wife at his Mar-a-Lago estate and private club in Palm Beach.
During the roundtable with business leaders, Trump praised U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, took a shot at his Democratic colleague Sen. Bill Nelson and praised the military’s response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria.
A day before the deadline to file federal income taxes, Trump said his tax cut package will put money into the hands of working families and spur hiring.
“This country is starting to rock with our businesses coming back in,” Trump said. “It's starting to really rock.”
Trump thanked Rubio and called him “a great friend.” The two traded barbs during the Republican presidential primaries in 2016, and Trump frequently referred to Rubio as “Little Marco.”
Trump then took aim at Nelson, saying he was hostile toward the tax cut package. Gov. Rick Scott — a Trump ally — is vying to unseat Nelson in the midterm elections.
Trump said “every single one” of the more than 100 missiles launched early Saturday morning against Syria hit its target.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta attended the business summit. Trump praised them while offering veiled criticism of other Cabinet appointees by saying “not all my choices were good.”
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, provided a counter-viewpoint Monday on Trump’s tax reform plan.
“To suggest that this tax reform legislation ... was anything other than a corporate and millionaire and billionaire giveaway is just a bald-faced lie,” she said.
Trump landed about noon at Miami International Airport and then flew via Air Force One to Palm Beach International Airport after the roundtable.
Flight restrictions associated with presidential visits have been issued for Key West for Thursday. The White House has not announced whether Trump has an event planned there.
Earlier guidance suggested Trump would return to Washington on Thursday, but an updated advisory indicates he will be in South Florida until Sunday.
This marks Trump’s 17th visit to Mar-a-Lago since taking office.