WASHINGTON (AP) —  President Donald Trump is in Florida celebrating the holidays and a much-needed political victory.

Before departing for his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump signed the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul into law. He also put off a government shutdown by signing a temporary spending bill. The tax cut is a long-held Republican goal. Starting next year, the new law will give big cuts to corporation and wealthy Americans and more modest reductions to other families.

Trump pitches the tax overhaul as a win for the middle class, insisting that even though polling indicates the tax cut is unpopular, “the numbers will speak” for themselves.

The tax law is the largest since 1986, but far from the biggest ever, as the president repeatedly claims. It’s also projected to add to the nation’s debt.

President Donald Trump says he’s learned a lot about Washington, partly by getting to know members of Congress. Asked whether he has any regrets over his first 11 months, he shook his head no.

The president spoke as he signed a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul that marks his first major legislative achievement. He said he ordered up the last-minute Oval Office event because news coverage questioned whether he would sign the bill into law by Christmas.

The legislation provides generous cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, along with smaller ones for middle class and low-income families.
It also ends fines for people who don’t carry health insurance. That’s a major change but far from end of “Obamacare,” as Trump has suggested.
The new tax law also could swell the national debt over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.