Trump has benefited from benign economic data even as he has shaken up politics domestically and abroad © FT montage/Reuters
Donald Trump took a victory lap at the Iowa state fairgrounds for the so-called “big beautiful bill” that has consolidated his political power
just as Americans prepare to celebrate independence day.
FT 04-07-2025 James Politi and Lauren Fedor in Washington
Just over five months since he was sworn in for a second term, Trump is riding high on a string of political victories, including this week’s passage of his flagship tax and spending bill. The president will hold a signing ceremony at the White House on Friday, flanked by his closest congressional allies and in the shadow of a military plane flyover.
“There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago when Congress passed the one big, beautiful bill to make America great again,” Trump said to cheers from the crowd on Thursday night.
The White House will celebrate far more than the president’s legislative win on July 4. Trump is capping off a period of aggressive policymaking and brazen power plays in which the US president has consolidated his influence, both at home and abroad.
“I think I have more power now, I do,” Trump said in response to a question from a reporter moments before departing Washington for Des Moines on Thursday evening.
“We’ve had a great record of success. My first term was very, very successful, we had the greatest economy in the history of our country,” Trump added. “I think we’re going to blow it away this term.”
In the past month, Trump has stepped up enforcement of his immigration crackdown and ordered the military to the streets of Los Angeles, launched stealth bomber strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities and had Nato allies bow to US demands for big jumps in defence spending.
A Real Clear Politics average of recent opinion polls also shows that significantly more Americans — 50.5 per cent — disapprove of the job the president is doing, while 46.3 per cent approve.
He also scored a key win at the US Supreme Court, which issued a ruling limiting the ability of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions blocking administration policies.
At the same time, the US president has benefited from benign economic data, which has eased criticism of his trade and fiscal plans from Wall Street and corporate America.
Job growth has been holding up while inflation has remained under control. US equity markets have reached new highs, erasing all of the losses posted in April after his initial burst of hardline tariff announcements. Administration officials cheered better than expected jobs figures on Thursday and record highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq stock indices.
The passage of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” was a vindication for the president — and the clearest signal yet that he has tightened his grip on an often fractious Republican party.
There had been serious doubts from across conservative America, including from allies such as Elon Musk, over the fiscal impact of the legislation, which is projected to add more than $3tn to the federal deficit over the next decade. More moderate Republicans had raised concerns about steep cuts to Medicaid — the healthcare scheme for low-income and disabled Americans — and rollbacks to subsidies for clean energy companies.
But in the end, with a few days of eleventh-hour arm-twisting, Trump silenced his critics. The bill passed the Senate and House of Representatives with just three Republican rebels in the upper chamber, and two in the lower.
In the hours after the bill passed the House on Thursday afternoon, the mood in the White House was buoyant.
“Obviously the markets are already loving it,” a White House official told reporters. “We think that it is the bridge to the golden age of America, truly. And now we will really get to work on restoring prosperity and security and safety for this country for a generation.”
But, while administration officials insisted the legislation will be an “overwhelming political boon for Republicans”, there are signs that Trump could face more challenges — especially when it comes to selling his flagship tax and spending agenda to the US public.
A Morning Consult survey conducted last weekend found 50 per cent of voters opposed the “big, beautiful bill”, while 36 per cent supported it.
A Real Clear Politics average of recent opinion polls also shows that significantly more Americans — 50.5 per cent — disapprove of the job the president is doing, while 46.3 per cent approve.
