Today in Trumpworld — Dec. 21

TRUMP’S SCHEDULE TODAY

President Donald Trump has no public events scheduled.


TRUMP’S TWITTER THIS MORNING: “The Massive Tax Cuts, which the Fake News Media is desperate to write badly about so as to please their Democrat bosses, will soon be kicking in and will speak for themselves. Companies are already making big payments to workers. Dems want to raise taxes, hate these big Cuts! … Was @foxandfriends just named the most influential show in news? You deserve it - three great people! The many Fake News Hate Shows should study your formula for success!”

THE TRUMP ECONOMY: From POLITICO’s Ben White: “President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are about to own the U.S. economy in ways that could revive their party’s brand or make the next three years a political nightmare. The president and GOP leaders were all smiles on Wednesday, celebrating passage of a giant tax cut bill that will slash corporate rates and offer more limited relief to individuals. They are counting on the widely unpopular measure to produce a series of economic benefits including faster growth, fatter paychecks and a bigger, more productive labor force. And they believe it will bring an end to companies shifting profits and production offshore. … Essentially, Republicans are betting they can take the fairly strong economy Trump inherited from President Barack Obama and fix the remaining broken parts which include a shrunken labor force, limited wage gains and stalled worker productivity. If they succeed, the GOP could start to reverse their big polling disadvantages in the 2018 midterm elections and set Trump up to win reelection in 2020 if he can somehow navigate the Russia investigations and avoid major foreign policy disasters. If they fail and the tax bill winds up doing what critics promise it will — driving up deficits and doing little for workers while putting lots of money in the pockets of the already rich — Democrats will be able to turn their current talking points on the tax bill into brutally effective political weapons for many years to come.”

THE GOP MOOD: From POLITICO’s Eliana Johnson: “It may have taken a year, but Republicans are starting to have fun. Indeed, despite the menace posed by the special counsel investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 campaign, they are starting to realize that they have something to show for all the pain and discomfort they have endured at the president’s hands.”

THE LOVE FEST: From POLITICO’s Matthew Nussbaum: “In the wake of passing major tax cuts, congressional Republicans gathered at the White House beneath a cloudy December sky on Wednesday to make sure that the man who prizes winning over all else, President Donald Trump, received his thanks. … ‘This has been a year of extraordinary accomplishment for the Trump administration,’ declared McConnell, who led off the speeches. … Ryan followed: ‘Something this big, something this generational, something this profound could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership.’ … ‘You,’ Pence gushed to the president, ‘will make America great again.’ Trump appeared to soak it all in, smiling and nodding along, playing the role of emcee as he summoned each speaker to deliver his or her thanks.”

NEXT UP: KEEPING THE GOVERNMENT OPEN: From POLITICO’s Rachael Bade and John Bresnahan: “Speaker Paul Ryan and his top lieutenants plan to bring a short-term government funding bill to the House floor Thursday despite internal resistance — in hopes of averting a shutdown and then leaving town for the holidays. GOP leaders are betting that their conference doesn’t want to trample on its tax victory by shuttering federal agencies. They plan to call up the bill, along with a separate $81 billion disaster package for hurricane relief. If the House passes the funding patch Thursday, the Senate will move on it as quickly as possible, GOP aides said.”

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