
President Donald Trump signed his tax cut bill on Friday morning in the Oval Office in front of a handful of reporters instead of at a lavish White House ceremony, in his final order of business before the start of his Christmas holiday away from the White House.

But the signing was televised and gave Trump a chance to speak almost uninterrupted for 15 minutes about his tax cut - while a ceremony might actually have made him share screen time with others.

Calling it 'the biggest tax cut, the biggest reform of all time' he said 'the numbers will speak' for themselves when taxpayers start to see results.

'I think it's selling itself,' Trump said of the landmark legislation. 'It's becoming very popular. You'll see something on February 1 when they open up the paycheck.'

Rather than holding an elaborate signing ceremony in early January, he said he rushed to turn the bill into law before December 25 to honor a pledge to make tax cuts his Christmas present to the American people.

'I didn't want you folks to say that I wasn't keeping my promise,' he told the press. 'I'm keeping my promise. I'm signing the bill before Christmas.'

And in a holiday truce with the journalists he loves to hate, he distributed official signing pens to some of them.

'Many of you have worked very fairly, and we appreciate that,' Trump said.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS: President Donald Trump says he rushed to turn the tax bill into law before December 25 to honor a pledge to make tax cuts his Christmas present to the American people

The president also signed a last-minute resolution to keep the government's lights on through January 19, averting a partial shutdown

Trump signed his tax cut bill on Friday morning in the Oval Office with little fanfare in his final order of business before the start of his Christmas holiday away from the White House

And in a holiday truce with the journalists he loves to hate, he distributed official signing pens to some of them

'Many of you have worked very fairly, and we appreciate that,' Trump said, inviting reporters to take a pen at the bill signing

The president said he'd have a press conference this week but took questions from a couple of reporters in the Oval Office on Friday instead

Trump also took a swipe at his political opponents on Capitol Hill, saying that 'the Democrats will really regret, the Democrats already regret' opposing him

The president also signed a last-minute resolution to keep the government's lights on through January 19, averting a partial shutdown.

Trump highlighted a provision that sets aside $4.6 billion for missile defense before he affixed his signature to the bill, saying in a tweet that the funds were 'much needed.'

He took a swipe at his political opponents on Capitol Hill, saying that 'the Democrats will really regret, the Democrats already regret' opposing him.

'They wanted to be a part of it,' he claimed, predicting that he'll get more bipartisan support during next year's push to fund far-reaching infrastructure projects.

The president is making his way now to Palm Beach, Florida, where his family has been awaiting his arrival for days at Mar-a-Lago, the private resort he has turned into his Winter White House.

Tiffany Trump, the president's younger daughter, was also seen exiting Air Force One on Friday in Palm Beach. President Trump's wife and sons were already at Mar-A-Lago

Trump tweeted after Air Force One took off that Democrats 'want to raise your taxes'

'Merry Christmas, everybody!' President Trump said as he walked from the Oval Office afterward to Marine One. He did not approach the press before boarding the helicopter

He stopped on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland when he saw a group of a few dozen servicemen and women and their families gathered to watch Air Force One take off.

'While you were down here, I wanted to say hello,' Trump said, wishing them a Merry Christmas.

Trump held a mass celebration on the White House's South Lawn on Wednesday to hail his tax cut victory as the start of 'a very special period of time' in America. He promised them that the reforms would lead to 'jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs.'

'We are making America great again!' he said at the outdoor ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House with Republican lawmakers.

Marine One with takes off from the South Lawn of the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews on Friday morning

President Trump greeted troops at the base before boarding the presidential aircraft

Trump shakes a servicemember's hand at Andrews before boarding Air Force One

The president took off for Florida alone on Friday. His wife and sons have been awaiting him there for days

Vice President Mike Pence, who was up late the night before presiding over the final vote in the Senate, declared the bill's passage a 'middle class miracle' and shouted, 'Merry Christmas America!'

Trump was handed an immediate Christmas bonus of his own as AT&T announced it would give its more than 200,000 workers a $1,000 bonus once the tax cut is signed into law, and Wells Fargo, Boeing, Sinclair and Comcast, which owns NBC Universal, quickly followed suit with boosts for their workforces.

The president thanked them all as at he signed the tax reform bill on Friday in the Oval Office.

'They all have made tremendous contributions to their employees, and tremendous contributions to spending money in this country, because of the tax bill. And they all said it's because of the tax bill,' he said. 'So they are making tremendous investments. That means jobs, that means a lot of things. we are very happy.'

Trump said in lengthy remarks on the topic that 'corporations that are giving billions and billions of dollars away to their workers and many more are coming' and the bonuses would sell the legislation 'better than anybody could.'

WELCOME TO PALM BEACH: President Trump was greeted by a sea of supporters on Friday as he arrived in Palm Beach for his Christmas holiday

'But I think come February, when they open their checks and they see "Wow! what happened? I have a lot more money in here," ' he imitated. 'I think that's really going to be something very special. So have a great holiday, folks.'

GOP leaders were the first to congratulate Trump on the legislative achievement - the first major one of his presidency - praising him one-by-one in remarks Wednesday that characterized him as the greatest executive officeholder in decades.

'Something this big, something this generational, something this profound could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership. Mr. President, thank you for getting us over the finish line,' said House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell likewise said, 'America is going to start growing again. Thank you Mr. President for all you're doing.'

'But for your leadership, we would not be here today,' House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady piled on.

President Donald Trump proclaimed the GOP tax cut plan a 'historic victory' on Wednesday as the House headed to the floor for final passage

'Something this big, something this generational, something this profound could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership. Mr. President thank you for getting us over the finish line,' said House Speaker Paul Ryan

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, at his turn said, 'This is a big day for America. This is America's comeback.

'Come February check your check, because that will be the pay raise of the vote for Donald Trump,' McCarthy stated.

Senator Orrin Hatch, the Senate Finance Chairman, effusively said that Trump was 'one heck of a leader' and the bill 'could not have passed without you.'

'We're making headway. This is just the beginning,' the Utah senator who has not declared his intent to run for re-election next year said. 'I just hope that we call get behind him every way we can and we'll get this country turned around in ways that will benefit the whole world.'

Hatch said, 'We're gonna make this the greatest presidency that we've seen not only in generations but maybe ever. God bless all of you.'

The president told lawmakers in his remarks that the negotiation process has 'been an amazing experience,' and Republicans have now 'broke every record' with the size of tax slash.

'It was a lot of fun. It's always fun when you work hard and win,' Trump assessed. 'If you work hard and lose, that's not acceptable.'

HAPPY TAXMAS: That was the White House's message as it closed out the Wednesday workday after tax legislation passed

The biggest publicity coup for Trump may well be the immediate move by corporate giants to pass some of their winnings to workers.

AT&T said that it will pay $1,000 bonuses to more than 200,000 employees - and promised to make $1 billion in new investments in the United States next year - once the tax reform bill is signed into law.

As part of that bill, the tax rate on corporations will drop from 35 per cent to 21 per cent. Trump previously called the measure 'rocket fuel' for the economy.

After AT&T's announcement, other companies followed suit.

Comcast NBCUniversal said it would award $1,000 bonuses to more than 100,000 workers, 'based on the passage of tax reform' and a recent FCC decision to repeal 'net neutrality' rules.

The cable and Internet giant also boasted that it 'expects to spend well in excess of $50 billion over the next five years investing in infrastructure.'

Boeing said it would make a '$300 million employee-related and charitable investment as a result of #TaxReform legislation.'

And Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati, Ohio said it will pay $1,000 bonuses to more than 13,500 employees and raise the minimum wage for its workforce to $15 per hour because its tax rate is about to plummet.

SAY CHEESE: Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) take a selfie during the president's event on the South Lawn

Wells Fargo matched that $15 per hour minimum wage hike and said it was prompted by the tax plan. The San Francisco-based bank also said it would make $400 million in donations to nonprofit charities and other community organizations in 2018.

FedEx also showed optimism, with its CFO saying during an earnings call that the package shipping giant will likely expand if the tax cuts lead to larger national economic growth.

'GDP could increase materially next year as a result of U.S. tax reform. If this occurs, we would likely increase capital expenditures and hiring,' Alan Graf told investors.

Sinclair said Friday morning as Trump was about to sign the tax cut bill that it would give its employees Christmas bonuses of $1,000, too, a move that Trump quickly applauded.

The Senate passed the GOP's $1.5 trillion tax cut early Wednesday morning, leaving just one technical hurdle in the House and Trump's signature as the final steps before the Republican president's top legislative priority became a reality.

Trump was not able to sign the bill on Wednesday but delivered afternoon remarks at the White House anyway, where he was flanked roughly 100 Republican lawmakers.

He took an early victory lap in his cabinet meeting that morning and in a statement released by the White House just after the final congressional vote.

'I promised the American people a big, beautiful tax cut for Christmas. With final passage of this legislation, that is exactly what they are getting,' he said. 'I would like to thank the members of Congress who supported this historic bill, which represents an extraordinary victory for American families, workers, and businesses.'

Trump predicted that tax reform would lead to an even greater reduction in unemployment, new highs for the stock market and an increase in wages.

'By cutting taxes and reforming the broken system, we are now pouring rocket fuel into the engine of our economy,' he said. 'America is back to winning again, and we’re growing like never before. There is a great spirit of optimism sweeping across our land. Americans can once again rest assured that our brightest days are still to come.'

During an afternoon cabinet meeting, Trump said that the bill will provide 'a tremendous amount of relief for the middle class, including a doubling of the child tax credit and a nearly doubling of the standard deduction.'

'That's going to be tremendous for people. They're going to start seeing the results in February. This bill means more take home pay,' he said.

Trump proclaimed the GOP tax cut plan a 'historic victory' in the meeting as the House headed to the floor for final passage.

'It will be an incredible Christmas gift for hard-working Americans. I said I wanted to have it done before Christmas. We got it done,' the president said.