Donald Trump has insisted his “Big Beautiful Bill” is “very popular” even though it is being hammered in the polls.
The president was defending his spending bill just hours after it was passed by Congress. He was signing it into law later on Friday.
Speaking after returning from his rally in Iowa, Trump was crowing about the benefits of his agenda legislation, which is forecast to add $3.4 trillion to the national debt of $36.2 trillion.
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He told reporters the bill’s popularity stems from it heralding the “biggest tax cuts in our country’s history.” He dismissed suggestions that the sprawling package was unpopular. ABC reported that Trump said the only poll on the matter was a “Democrat poll.”
The legislation has been the subject of extensive polling by a wide range of reputable pollsters, with all data revealing poor approval levels.
Last week, CNN highlighted a slew of polls on the bill from the Washington Post, Pew Research Centre, Fox News, Quinnipiac University, and the Kaiser Family Foundation, showing disastrous net approval ratings of -19, -20, -21, -26, and -29 percent, respectively.
It’s not just pollsters who have critiqued the bill. Trump’s former key ally, Elon Musk, vehemently denounced the bill this week, describing it as a “disgusting abomination” packed with political pork that would destroy millions of American jobs and saddle the country with enormous debt.
Musk mocked Republicans supporting the bill, calling the GOP the “Porky Pig Party,” and warned that passing it would amount to political suicide. He went so far as to suggest forming a new political party to counter what he sees as a sellout of conservative values.
Trump fired back by threatening to use federal power against Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX. He hinted that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk once led, could review or even cancel Musk’s federal contracts—and hinted that Musk could be deported.
Musk renewed his threats Friday, retweeting critics and opening a poll on whether to launch a new political party.
