SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
President Trump has called the deadly flooding in Central Texas shocking and says his administration is working with Governor Abbott over federal aid. He made those comments yesterday after he signed his massive policy bill, the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, at a July Fourth White House celebration.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Promises made, promises kept. And we've kept them. This is a triumph of democracy on the birthday of democracy, and I have to say that the people are happy.
SIMON: It's a package that'll cut taxes, add more funding for border security and also make cuts to major programs like Medicaid. NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben joins us. Danielle, thanks so much for being with us.
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: Yeah. Good morning, Scott.
SIMON: And please tell us about yesterday's ceremony.
KURTZLEBEN: Well, the event was outside the White House at a picnic for military families, including those who participated in Operation Midnight Hammer in Iran. At the event, B-2s flew overhead. Now, those are the planes that carried those massive bombs targeting those underground nuclear facilities in Iran. Trump came out on a balcony at the White House with first lady Melania Trump. And he thanked the military members, but he quickly transitioned to celebrating this new policy bill. And then he came down from the balcony to sign it surrounded by Republican Congress members.
SIMON: A Fourth of July event, to be sure, but also a celebration of the administration?
KURTZLEBEN: Oh, very much. That was also the case, by the way, in Iowa on Thursday night, too. I was there, it was in Des Moines, and it was meant to be a celebration for America. But really, it looked like any Trump campaign rally, which is to say, it was deeply partisan. And there too, he said he had a couple of weeks of winning that have just passed. After all, Congress passed that new major domestic policy agenda, albeit narrowly. And he had that major strike on Iran and then a ceasefire that is holding at the moment. And then there are also numbers showing that border crossings are way down, and he celebrated that on his trip to Florida this week to a new migrant detainment camp, which the administration is calling Alligator Alcatraz.
SIMON: The administration points all of this and says that amounts to a lot of winning. Is there more to consider?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, absolutely. For example, on Iran, it's still unclear how much of Iran's nuclear capabilities were truly destroyed and it's unclear if or when they would start rebuilding their program. On that so-called Big Beautiful Bill, that could push nearly 12 million people off Medicaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, which has also found that the bill would benefit the wealthy most. Now, Democrats were very worried about that, as were some Republicans, and some Republicans were also upset about how much the bill would add to the debt. According to the CBO, it would add 3.3 trillion. That is a lot. And then there's the fact that it's just not that popular, according to multiple polls. Now, Trump, for his part, simply dismisses that polling. Here he was talking yesterday.
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TRUMP: We just have to look forward, fellas, look forward and just say what it is because it's the most popular bill ever signed in the history of our country.
SIMON: Danielle, you mentioned the Florida Detention Center. What challenges are there for President Trump and immigration right now?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, as you know, immigration has been maybe the central issue for Trump since Day 1. And so people who vote for him vote for tighter immigration policy. But in practice, this administration's approach to immigration enforcement, it has faced a lot of opposition around the country, for example, in the form of protests, and also some businesses are just concerned he'll deport their workers. And it's uncertain whether or to what degree that will happen. Trump has, in fact, waffled, for example, on whether he will ease up on raids on places like farms, which rely on a lot of immigrants.
SIMON: And what about tariffs?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, he said he plans to make a lot of tariff moves in this next week. But first, let me remind you of where we are. In early April, Trump announced tariffs on most countries. Then he backed off and set those tariffs at 10% temporarily. He said that on July 9, the rates would jump back up. But then before then, he would negotiate rates country by country. Well, July 9 is coming, and he's negotiated rates with two countries, the U.K. and Vietnam. So now he says he'll send out letters simply notifying countries of their tariff rates. So soon we're going to find out how much American businesses and likely consumers will be paying for imports.
SIMON: NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben. Thanks so much, Danielle.
KURTZLEBEN: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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