U.S. President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Education Secretary Linda McMahon attend a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 26, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump is at work trying to rebrand his 2026 budget legislation, known as the "Big, Beautiful Bill," as a kind of tax cut not for billionaires but for the middle class.
Trump announced at his Cabinet meeting that he was changing the name because it's "not good for explaining to people what it's all about."
He went on to claim it was about creating jobs. Some of his own supporters have criticized Trump for a bill that added considerably to the deficit and made any tax cuts for everyday Americans temporary, while other tax cuts for billionaires on items such as private jets are made permanent. Meanwhile, the bill also issues steep cuts to Medicaid, free meals for children in schools and food stamps.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny commented that this is happening in the background as Republican lawmakers travel home for the August recess and get an earful from their voters.
"And some alarm bells are going up about the popularity of this sprawling piece of legislation that the president signed into law," Zeleny said. "And of course, it is far more than a tax cut. It's also about cutting Medicaid. It's also about cutting food stamp benefits and so much more. But the president — he likes his branding. He likes his slogans, but is now signaling that he does not want to call it that heading into the midterm elections. He wants to call it a working-class tax cut."
Zeleny noted it would be interesting to see if Trump can "unring that bell."
See the clip below or at the link here.