Republicans urged to back 'big, beautiful' tax bill

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump told rebel Republicans Tuesday to back his so-called “big, beautiful bill,” despite criticism that its tax cuts will increase America’s yawning budget deficit.

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Mr Trump described talks with lawmakers on Capitol Hill as a “meeting of love” ahead of an expected close vote later this week on legislation that he has placed at the heart of his second-term agenda.

The bill pairs an extension of the tax cuts from the billionaire’s first presidential term with steep savings in government spending to pay for them.

But the closed-door talks apparently failed to quell concerns among Republican fiscal hawks that it will increase the national debt — and among moderates that it will cut health care for millions of the poorest Americans.