Trump touts release of final GOP tax plan: A ‘great Christmas gift’ for middle class

President Trump on Saturday touted the release of Republicans’ final tax bill, saying that it will be “one of the great Christmas gifts” for the middle class.

“It’s going to be one of the great Christmas gifts to middle-income people,” Trump told reporters outside the White House before departing for Camp David for the weekend.

“The Democrats have their sound bite, the standard sound bite before they even know what the bill is all about. They talk about ‘for the wealthy,’ ” he continued.

“But this is going to be one of the greatest gifts for the middle-income people of this country that they’ve ever gotten for Christmas.”

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Congressional Republicans unveiled the final version of their sweeping rewrite of the nation’s tax code on Friday. GOP lawmakers are hoping to pass the legislation in the coming week and send it to Trump’s desk to be signed into law before Christmas.

The bill offers a series of sweeping tax cuts for individuals and businesses, while doing away with or limiting certain tax breaks. 

The measure differs in some ways from the bills passed in the House and Senate in recent weeks. For example, final legislation lowers the top individual tax bracket from 39.6 percent to 37 percent. It also sets the corporate tax rate at 21 percent, as opposed to the 20 percent laid out in the original bills.

Trump and congressional Republicans have touted the tax overhaul as a boon to the middle class. Opponents of the measure, however, say that it amounts to a massive windfall to corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

If Republicans in the House and Senate are able to pass the legislation and Trump signs it into law — as he is expected to do — it would mark the president’s first major legislative victory of his tenure in the White House.