Trump worked phones on 'big beautiful bill' -- but left some arm-twisting to others

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was “heavily engaged” in Republicans’ budget reconciliation process at every step and a big player in an endgame “full-court press,” according to sources. But he left it to GOP leaders and his vice president to twist the arm of one key Senate holdout.

As a group of conservative holdouts left the House frozen overnight into the wee hours of Thursday morning, Trump worked the phones to sell those members on his executive power to implement Senate-crafted provisions to be more in line with their priorities. And when he’d had enough, the president who still maintains a vise grip on his party, used two social media posts to issue his final marching orders for the stragglers to fall in line.

“FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE. RIDICULOUS!!!” he wrote in one post. That followed an earlier dispatch in which Trump warned the holdouts that “MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!”

“Largest Tax Cuts in History and a Booming Economy vs. Biggest Tax Increase in History, and a Failed Economy. What are the Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove???” he wrote, addressing the conservative lawmakers he sometimes calls “grandstanders.”

The phone calls and social media posts appeared to work, with the House finally clearing the sweeping tax and domestic spending bill on Thursday afternoon. Trump’s efforts were part of what sources described as him playing both an inside game to appeal directly to lawmakers and an outside one aimed at ginning up frustration among their shared political base — one that is, above all else, loyal to the father of the “Make America Great Again” movement.

Sources described Trump as a legislator in chief who was involved at every step of the methodical process on the House and Senate sides. They said he both tried to reassure lawmakers he counts as allies, while essentially pushing out North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis — who opposed the bill and then announced his retirement — and vowing to back a primary challenger against libertarian-minded Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who voted against the first version of the budget reconciliation bill the House passed in May and then against the final product on Thursday.

“The president was heavily involved in this process,” a White House official said. “He talked to members throughout, for months, on the phone, in meetings here at the White House and elsewhere when he would see them. He was very much driving this forward.”

A senior administration official said he “lost count” of the many meetings and phone calls Trump held with Republicans lawmakers, recalling Thursday that the president “put him on speaker” on many occasions while meeting with members.

“The president was the … force behind the legislation,” the senior administration official said on a briefing call. “The president’s focus on relationships [with members] carried us through … when it became crunch time.”

The senior administration official also said Trump’s knowledge of the business tax code helped him shape the measure and explain it to the last holdouts.

During his first term, like many of his predecessors, Trump took multiple approaches to Congress. Sometimes he was directly involved in negotiations. At other times he leaned on top lieutenants such as Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

On the first major legislation of his second term, sources said Trump opted for the former approach. Even as House and Senate Republican leaders, as well as administration officials, negotiated directly with lawmakers, sources said Trump was immediately informed on where a member stood and what sticking points remained.

“President Trump and [Vice President JD Vance] were incredibly helpful in helping Senate Republicans move this bill across the finish line. President Trump worked the phones and met individually with senators,” a senior GOP Senate aide said Wednesday as staffers recovered from the long process of amending and sending the sprawling bill back to the House.

“[Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso] spoke frequently with President Trump throughout the process to give him updates about where members stood,” the aide said, adding that Senate Republican leaders brought the president into their efforts “early” and involved him in a “full-court press” until the measure passed the chamber on Tuesday.

‘Hard, cold politics’

One former Republican Senate aide who closely monitors the legislative process also reported picking up intelligence that portrayed a hands-on president.

“What I am aware of would suggest he has been and is very hands-on. Lots of phone calls and pressure placed on members politically,” said G. William Hoagland, who was an aide to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

“I think the last president that was this hands-on was Bill Clinton with the 1997 Budget Act. But unlike Clinton, who was a policy wonk, Trump is not at all immersed in or worried about details — just the hard, cold politics of getting votes, often by intimidation,” added Hoagland, who is now with the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Notably, however, Trump did not speak directly to Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an occasional critic who eventually joined most fellow Republicans in voting for the bill after securing several carve-outs for her state, an aide to the senator said. Ultimately, the president left it to Senate GOP leaders and Vance to secure her vote.

In contrast, Trump dove head-first into House Republican leaders’ Wednesday push to send the Senate-approved version of the measure to his desk. He huddled separately at the White House with members of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus and with another group of moderates about his signature legislation. The overnight arm-twisting of House members into Thursday morning was a team effort, the White House official said, with Trump and GOP leaders pitching in to explain how the bill would be implemented.

“I think the mathematical equation here [was] Hammer + Whip + Bully Pulpit = Closer/passage,” Aaron Cutler, a former House Republican leadership aide, said in a Wednesday email.

Speaker Mike Johnson, referring to the president, on Tuesday reportedly called the legislation “his bill,” not so subtly reminding his conference that a vote against the measure would be a vote against the party’s unquestioned leader.

Such a description, though, could create political hurdles for Johnson’s party as the president transitions to a new phase of his second term.

“With the bill easily portrayed as benefiting the rich, they have also created a likely problem for themselves in 2026 and, more likely, 2028 elections,” according to Giles Alston, an analyst for the private intelligence firm Oxford Analytica. “However, having now got the one piece of legislation he needs from Congress, containing crucial tax cuts, Trump’s concern about the electoral prospects of congressional Republicans will be limited.”

‘Normally be home’

Trump’s in-person attempts at arm-twisting were not on display Tuesday as the Senate plodded toward a final vote. When Vance, presiding over the chamber, cast the decisive vote in favor of the bill, Trump was listening to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praise his hard-line immigration policies after they toured a new detention facility in the Florida Everglades.

The president had the Senate on his mind as he was shown through the site at an abandoned airport, asking reporters at one point: “Did they take the vote yet? How’s the vote doing? How’s the vote?”

Informed that the chamber had not yet decided the fate of his domestic agenda legislation, Trump said with a smile: “I would normally be home, waiting for the vote.”

A short time later, as he took questions following a roundtable discussion, a reporter told Trump that the Senate had passed the measure.

“Oh, thank you, wow. Thank you. You know, I’m waiting, listening to these wonderful words, and they are music to my ears,” he replied, 31 minutes and 14 seconds into the event in Ochopee, Fla. “But I was also wondering, ‘How are we doing?’ because I know this is prime time.”

If Trump felt any urgency then to get back to Washington, or even Air Force One, to start working the phones with House Republican holdouts, he didn’t act on it. Instead, he took questions for 58 more minutes, wrapping the event at the 1-hour, 12-minute mark.

“And I also appreciate the media. They’ve treated us very fairly. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been treated very nicely, and it’s so unusual, I’m not used to it, but we’ve gotten great accolades,” he said in closing, before addressing Brian Glenn of conservative outlet Real America’s Voice. “Brian, I want to thank you for calling out because I was waiting here because I knew the vote was taking place and I’m answering questions, right?”

Once back in Washington, Trump joined the “full-court press,” and as the measure stood on the brink of final passage in the House, he spiked the legislative football as he racked up another improbable victory to start the summer season.

“What a great night it was. One of the most consequential Bills ever,” he wrote Thursday morning on social media. “The USA is the “HOTTEST” Country in the World, by far!!!”