A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump is getting the Independence Day signing ceremony he's been demanding.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This is for the megabill he and Republicans in Congress pushed over the finish line yesterday afternoon. Speaking under the wing of Air Force One as he departed for a victory rally in Iowa, Trump said the celebration would include a military aircraft flyover.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And it's going to be a great day. So we'll be signing with those beautiful planes flying right over our heads.
MARTIN: The One Big Beautiful Bill, as President Trump has been calling it, contains the president's entire domestic legislative agenda.
MARTÍNEZ: With more, we're joined now by NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith. So, Tam, what is the president saying about this bill's passage?
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Well, as you might imagine, he and his allies are taking a victory lap. Trump was in Iowa last night for a rally and said with this bill, he kept every major promise he made to voters when he ran for office last year.
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TRUMP: Very simply, the One Big Beautiful Bill will deliver the strongest border on earth, the strongest economy on earth, the strongest military on earth, and ensure the United States of America will remain the strongest country anywhere on this beautiful planet of ours.
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KEITH: Trump was, to borrow a word he likes to use, rather braggadocious about his success last night, asking, has anybody ever had a better two weeks?
MARTÍNEZ: Now, 48 hours ago, though, there was some drama. I mean, it looked like that bill and the president's timeline were in trouble. So what happened?
KEITH: Well, there were quite a few Republican holdouts, but President Trump turned on the charm, and then he turned up the pressure. And ultimately, all but two Republicans in the House who had been holding out folded. At a press conference after the bill passed, Majority Leader Steve Scalise gave Trump all the credit.
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STEVE SCALISE: Donald Trump absolutely was our closer, and Donald Trump never stopped - every day was there in the fight. Who do I need to call? What do I need to do? No president more directly engaged.
KEITH: This was a pivotal moment in Trump's presidency and he and his party rose to it. It took all-night debates and arm-twisting and passed with incredibly narrow margins in both the House and the Senate. And the question now is whether it becomes a long-term political win or more of an albatross.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, OK. Sounds like you're talking about the midterm elections.
KEITH: Indeed. Next year, Republicans in swing districts will have to defend their votes. And so far, public polling has found this bill to be pretty unpopular. Democrats have had a lot of success in branding it as a tax cut for the rich at the expense of the poor and the vulnerable. A senior White House official conceded in a call yesterday with reporters that the president and Republicans are going to have to educate the public on what's actually in the bill, including things that are popular, like no tax on tips or expanding the child tax credit.
And another thing to watch is the Medicaid cuts in the bill, which an independent analysis found would cause nearly 12 million people to lose coverage. Those will phase in more slowly, which may give Republicans some political cover because people often don't draw a direct line between things happening in their lives and something politicians in Washington passed years earlier.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Now, still a lot of uncertainty, though, various global conflicts, the U.S. tariff policy. What challenges lie ahead, though?
KEITH: Well, it depends on how you feel about tariffs. Early next week, Trump's tariff pause is set to end and his administration has not had much success striking trade deals. So he says he's just going to start sending letters to countries telling them how high their tariffs will be going forward. Economists say tariffs are going to hit American consumers, but Trump is unconcerned.
Trump is also burning up the phones to various world leaders, trying to wind down the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, and then there's Iran - all of which is to say, a president's work is never done.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith. Thanks.
KEITH: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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