‘But we’re touching Medicaid’: Trump confused about what's in his megabill

President Donald Trump appears not to be entirely clear on the scope of the health care cuts in the "big, beautiful bill" he has aggressively lobbied Republicans in Congress to pass, NOTUS reported on Wednesday — and he had to be reminded of it by a handful of Republican lawmakers in a meeting behind closed doors.

The bill, passed by the Senate in a narrowly divided vote on Tuesday morning, is currently awaiting final passage in the House, as GOP leaders attempt to smooth over factional disagreements to proceed to the final roll call. It cuts over $1 trillion from Medicaid, food assistance, and green energy credits, while extending tax breaks for the wealthy, massively boosting immigration enforcement funding, and adding over $2 trillion to the federal deficit.

"Trump hosted a meeting with some moderates and some members of the Main Street Caucus on Wednesday, where he listened to concerns and touted the wins in the legislation, two sources told NOTUS," reported Riley Rogerson and Reese Gorman. However, "Trump still doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp about what his signature legislative achievement does. According to three sources with direct knowledge of the comments, the president told Republicans at this meeting that there are three things Congress shouldn’t touch if they want to win elections: Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security."

At this, one of the Republicans in attendance piped up and reminded him, “But we’re touching Medicaid in this bill.”

As early as February, Trump proclaimed he would not cut Medicaid even as he endorsed a House budget blueprint that all but guaranteed significant cuts to the public insurance program.

In response to the new report, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the bill “takes decisive action to protect Medicaid for generations to come by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. President Trump is committed to protecting Medicaid for the vulnerable Americans who rely on it most.”