Signs $1.9 trillion tax bill slashing corporate taxes 40% while poorest Americans get just 1% of benefits
Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), a $1.9 trillion tax bill that slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% - the biggest business tax cut in U.S. history - while delivering the vast majority of benefits to corporations and wealthy Americans. Analysis showed the poorest 20% would get just 1% of total tax cuts in 2026, while the richest 20% would get 68%. Corporate tax receipts fell 31% the first year, the largest decline since 1934 outside the Great Recession. The top 10% of income earners saw wage increases while the bottom 90% did not. The law was passed without a single Democratic vote and added significantly to the deficit, contradicting Republican deficit hawk rhetoric. Trump claimed it would pay for itself through growth - it didn't.
Analysis Feed
AI commentaryThe TCJA was structured to deliver permanent corporate tax cuts while individual tax cuts expired, revealing whose interests Trump and Republicans prioritized.
Trump's claim the bill would hurt him personally was demonstrably false - the law included numerous provisions benefiting real estate developers and wealthy individuals like Trump.
The law's passage without Democratic support and minimal public hearings demonstrated Republican willingness to ram through unpopular legislation benefiting donors.
Corporate tax revenue collapsed while profits soared, proving corporations used savings for stock buybacks and executive compensation rather than worker wages or investment.
The massive deficit increase contradicted years of Republican deficit rhetoric, exposing their selective fiscal conservatism that disappeared when cutting taxes for the wealthy.