00:00President Donald Trump on Tuesday pressed his fellow Republicans in the U.S. Congress to unite behind a sweeping tax cut bill,
00:08but apparently failed to convince a handful of holdouts who could still block a package that encompasses much of his domestic agenda.
00:16In a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, Trump bluntly warned Republicans in the House of Representatives
00:22not to press for further changes to the sprawling bill, which would cut taxes and tighten eligibility for the Medicaid health program.
00:33He strongly cautioned against further plans to make it more difficult for people to access Medicaid, a program for low-income Americans.
00:42Trump also discouraged Republicans from seeking further carve-outs of state and local tax payments,
00:47in each issue that is especially important for moderate Republicans in high-tech states like California and New York.
00:55After the meeting, Trump predicted the package would ultimately pass the House,
00:59which Republicans control by a narrow majority of 220 against 213.
01:05This is the greatest bill that will ever...
01:09I think it's the most important bill this country just about has ever done in terms of size and scope.
01:15That's why we call it the great, big, beautiful deal.
01:17I mean, it really is.
01:18The bill is...
01:19I think it's going to be one of the most important...
01:22It's the biggest tax reduction in history, biggest regulation reduction in history,
01:28incredible for Medicaid, Medicare.
01:32The only thing, we're going to leave it exactly as it was,
01:34other than for, obviously, waste, fraud, and abuse.
01:37We're strengthening it.
01:38We're going to make these things even stronger.
01:40The Democrats are going to destroy Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
01:47And we're going to keep them, but even make them strong.
01:50The bill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's signature first-term legislative achievement,
01:57and also add tax breaks on income from tips and overtime pay
02:01that were part of his populist push on the campaign trail.
02:05Non-partisan analysts say it could add $3 trillion to $5 trillion
02:09to federal government's $36.2 trillion in debt.
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