Trump pushes Republicans to drop SALT, Medicaid demands and pass his massive agenda bill

President Trump told House Republicans during a closed-door meeting at the Capitol on Tuesday to drop their push for further changes to the “big, beautiful bill” and pass it this week.

“I think his message was a lot of good, hard negotiations have been going on, but it’s time now to close this out,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican.

Specifically, the president warned Republicans, “Don’t f—- with Medicaid.”

Conservatives are still seeking changes that would reduce federal funding for states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare to cover able-bodied adults.

Several House Freedom Caucus members did not relent after the meeting on seeking further changes to Medicaid, saying the president discussed rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the program, which remains their aim.

Mr. Trump also told Republicans seeking a further increase in the federal deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT, that they need to accept the deal that’s on the table.

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Some lawmakers took that to mean the proposal in the bill that would triple the existing $10,000 SALT cap to $30,000, but Mr. Trump was not that specific. GOP leaders have floated other offers to blue-state Republicans who still want a higher cap, but no agreement has been reached.