By Daniel Dale and Tami Luhby, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump is using false claims to promote his massive domestic policy bill.
In a White House speech on Thursday, Trump falsely claimed Medicaid is “left the same” by the bill. In fact, both the version of the legislation that was narrowly passed by the House in May and the latest version now being contemplated by the Senate contain major Medicaid policy changes and funding cuts that are expected to result in millions of people losing insurance coverage.
Trump also falsely claimed that the bill includes “no tax” on Social Security benefits. The legislation would not actually fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to completely eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits, though it would temporarily give seniors a substantially bigger tax deduction. And Trump falsely claimed that “there’ll be a 68% tax increase” if Congress doesn’t approve the bill; there is no credible estimate of anything close to a 68% hike.
One caveat: since Congress has not yet sent a final bill to Trump’s desk, it’s possible that legislators will make major changes before the Senate votes. But Trump’s claims are inaccurate with regard to the House-approved version and the version senators are considering.
Asked for comment on the president’s false claims, the White House provided an on-record response that touted the benefits of the bill but did not defend Trump’s specific assertions.
“The One, Big, Beautiful Bill is chock-full of the policies that...
By Daniel Dale and Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump is using false claims to promote his massive domestic policy bill. In a White House speech on Thursday, Trump falsely claimed Medi...