Trump signals flexibility on border, tax 'mega-bill' ahead of Senate GOP meeting

Despite backing a comprehensive border and tax mega-bill, President-elect Donald Trump has signaled a willingness to be flexible on process ahead of a potentially pivotal meeting with Senate Republicans.

The president-elect and House of Representatives prefer to pair some of his key border proposals with an extension of the 2017 tax cuts and some of his other reforms to bring the narrowly divided lower chamber into line. But Senate Republicans, especially Majority Leader John Thune, seem inclined to keep the issues in separate legislation.

Trump is expected to meet with Thune and other key Republicans on Wednesday to discuss legislative strategy and key priorities. Despite the apparent differences in preferred approach, Trump indicated he was open to an alternate plan for clearing the upper chamber, if necessary.

"Whatever needs to be done"

“Well, I favor one bill. I also want to get everything passed. And you know, there are some people that don’t necessarily agree with it. So I’m open to that, also,” he said Monday on the “Hugh Hewitt Show.” “My preference is one big, as I say, one big, beautiful bill. Now to do that takes longer. You know, to submit it takes longer, actually. But, so it’s a longer process. I would say I’d live with that.”

But Trump does not appear wedded to the point of procedure and has acknowledged that his key priority is to ensure that the provisions pass, one way or another.

“I would prefer one, but I will do whatever needs to be done to get it passed,” he said. “And you know, we have a lot of respect for Senator Thune, as you know. He may have a little bit of a different view of it.”

“I heard other senators yesterday, including Lindsey [Graham], talking about it. They’d prefer it the other way. So I’m open to either way as long as we get something passed as quickly as possible,” he concluded.

Senate leadership has its own preferred method of navigating its home waters. Though Trump rarely got involved with parliamentary issues in his first term, he has waded into this fight as he hopes to score an early win in the narrowly divided chambers. The division between the House and Senate on approach is likely to feature in the meeting between Trump and Republican senators. 

“We’re likely going to meet with the president, relatively shortly, visit with him, talk about what he’d like to have done. We’re all heading in exactly the same direction,” Majority Whip John Barrasso told reporters of the meeting set for Wednesday.

"Help him be a success"

Thune, for his part, said in a recent appearance on “Face the Nation” that he would work with Trump to help him understand the dynamics of the Senate and “what’s realistic” in that chamber. “I think my job is to do everything I can to help him be a success,” he added. “Process issues, to me, are a lot less important than the results.”

In the meantime, Trump has indicated he plans to make moves on securing the border independent of legislative authority and that existing funds allocated to the border were sufficient for that purpose in the short term.

“We have money. We don’t need it desperately, immediately,” he asserted. “So, I can just say this. The border is going to be secure.”

He further pointed to Border Czar-designate Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whom he tapped to spearhead border security and mass deportation efforts.

On some border efforts, moreover, the legislature appears to be ahead of Trump, with the House of Representatives passing the “Laken Riley Act” on a bipartisan basis Tuesday. The upper chamber is expected to vote on the legislation later this week and has at least one Democratic co-sponsor. If passed, the bill would grant law enforcement broader authority to detain illegal immigrants accused of criminal acts.

The bill takes its name from a University of Georgia student murdered by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela last year, whose case featured heavily in the immigration debate during the 2024 presidential election. Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, received life in prison for her murder.

The House vote on Tuesday morning was 264-159 and had dozens of Democrats supporting the bill. Should that prove indicative of shifting attitudes toward border security and illegal immigration, then Trump may have more leeway to work with the Senate on process without seriously undermining his position in the lower chamber of Congress.