Trump Drops F-Bomb in Meeting With House GOP

President Trump met with House Republicans Tuesday to push them toward passing his "big beautiful bill"—and sources tell multiple outlets that he made it clear to budget hardliners that he doesn't support deeper cuts to Medicaid, saying "Don't f--- with Medicaid." Insiders tell the Hill that during the closed-door meeting, Trump also urged moderate Republicans from blue states to stop fighting for an increase in the state and local tax—SALT—deduction. A senior White House official tells Politico that Trump "made it clear he's losing patience with all holdout factions of the House Republican Conference" and he wants every Republican to vote yes.

The package made it through a key House committee Sunday night after some of the deficit hawks who had earlier blocked it changed course. After the meeting, Trump told reporters, "That was love in that room. There was no shouting. I think it was a meeting of love." House Speaker Mike Johnson also sounded optimistic. "We're on the verge of making history here, and everybody feels it in that room today with President Trump," he said, per NBC News. "It was filled with standing ovations and high energy and high excitement because everybody senses what's happening here." Johnson said a Wednesday floor vote on the package would be optimal, but he had to "tie up a few loose ends" first.

Those loose ends might include House Republicans who remained opposed to the bill after the Tuesday meeting. Holdouts include Rep. Thomas Massie, a fiscal hawk who tells Politico that he remains a no vote, though Trump did a "pretty good job" on Tuesday. "If his job was to go in there and convince the Freedom Caucus and the blue-state Republicans, I think he did a good job," Massie says. "And he made a decent effort at convincing me—directly." Rep. Mike Lawler, one of the lawmakers pushing for a bigger SALT deduction, initially said he was "not budging." Later Tuesday, he said GOP leaders had made an "improved offer" to the SALT Caucus, the Hill reports. (More budget bill stories.)