Trump warns house republicans ‘don’t f–k around with medicaid’ in latest ‘big beautiful bill’ drama

WASHINGTON — President Trump warned House Republicans “don’t f— around with Medicaid” during a closed-door meeting Tuesday as he sought to rally support for his “big beautiful bill.” The

R-rated remark, confirmed to The Post by a Republican member of Congress and another person in the room, came as Trump tries to convince fiscal hawks to deliver on a bundle of top campaign

pledges, including extending his 2017 tax cuts while eliminating levies on tips, overtime pay and Social Security. Before entering the meeting with House Republicans, Trump defended planned

changes to Medicaid, which he called crackdown on fraud.  “We’re not doing any cutting of anything meaningful,” the president said. “The only thing we’re cutting is waste, fraud and abuse.”

But skeptical Republicans, such as Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, have demanded that more conservative reforms to Medicaid be tacked onto the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including an earlier

imposition of work requirements for able-bodied Americans to use the entitlement. “He paints with some colorful phrases, maybe that we hear more often here than we do in South Dakota,” Rep.

Dusty Johnson (R-SD) told The Post about Trump’s message to Republicans. “When he says don’t touch things … he means don’t make adjustments to the bill as drafted. “The president is the

world’s best salesman,” Johnson added. “You could tell that he moved the room.” EXPLORE MORE The current version of the bill features a mandated 80-hour-per-month work requirement on

able-bodied adults ages 19 to 64 that is set to take effect in 2029. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) suggested Monday the work requirements will be adjusted to take effect in

“early 2027” before the full House votes on it, but some fiscal hawks wanted the requirement to take effect even sooner.  Medicaid, which provides health insurance to more than 70 million

low-income Americans, had a federal budget of about $618 billion last fiscal year.  Additionally, the megabill currently requires Medicaid beneficiaries with annual incomes over the federal

poverty line of $15,650 to pay up to $35 per medical service, lowers the Affordable Care Act expansion reimbursement rate for states that include illlegal immigrants in the program, and

restricts state Medicaid programs from reimbursing health care providers more than Medicare does.  The proposed changes could result in 8.6 million Americans losing their coverage, according

to an initial Congressional Budget Office projection. Medicaid reform has long been subject to intense debate between fiscal hawks and moderate members of the Republican conference. Sen.

Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has repeatedly suggested that the proposed reforms could be a dealbreaker.  “I hope congressional Republicans are listening,” Hawley posted on X in response to reports of

Trump’s Medicaid warning.  Trump also implored allies not to get bogged down in a fight over lifting the $10,000 state and local tax deduction, arguing it could be done later. The current

version of the bill, which is set to come before the House Rules Committee early Wednesday morning, would raise the deduction cap to $30,000 — an amount a handful of blue-state GOP lawmakers

have described as inadequate. “Trump is a blast. If everyone could have heard that speech his popularity would be at 80%,” Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), a skeptic of the push to raise the

SALT cap, said after the meeting.  “Fighting the drug companies on pricing. Fighting the hedge fund guys on taxes. Warning a handful of screwballs to stay away from Social Security. Fighting

for the average guy against the ultra-rich pricks all day long.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is hoping to get the One Big Beautiful Bill Act through the lower chamber by Memorial

Day. “I’m the only Republican right now that you can count on to vote against this bill,” said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who also backed a bid to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)

last year. “There are people that understand there are problems with this bill. It’s not fiscally responsible. Moody’s changed the bond rating for the United States yesterday. The markets

responded. US Treasury’s at 5% right now for the 30-year note. That’s what’s going to happen because of this bill.” Republicans are dealing with a 220-213 majority in the House and can only

afford to lose three votes if there’s full attendance.