Donald Trump will not be presenting Congress with a new to-do list anytime soon as Senate and House Republicans turn to other pressing matters after narrowly approving most of the president’s second-term priorities.
As the ink dried on the GOP-crafted and -passed “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” that Trump signed into law on July Fourth, his White House has pivoted to his global trade war, Texas flood relief efforts and several thorny foreign conflicts. The president is expected in the Lone Star State on Friday to see the devastation from the recent flooding in the Hill Country region and to meet with some of those affected.
Trump made clear during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting that, for him, the post-“One Big, Beautiful Bill” era would start with a focus on setting tariff rates for a list of other countries — and dealing with his increasing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In fact, the first week of this new phase of his second term had a distinctly foreign policy theme with Trump twice holding working dinners at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the dovish American leader and his hawkish Israeli counterpart tried to smooth over differences on the conflict in Gaza and how to handle Iran.
