President Donald Trump signed the Republican tax-overhaul bill to little fanfare on Friday, delivering a major tax cut to U.S. corporations along with a package of temporary cuts for other businesses and most individuals.
"I consider this very much a bill for the middle class and a bill for jobs," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office before signing the legislation. "Corporations are literally going wild over this. I think even beyond my expectations."
Trump's signature caps a seven-week sprint that began when the House unveiled its tax bill last month, and it gives the GOP its first major legislative victory since January.
The private setting was unusual given the significance of the legislation, but the process had been delayed until Congress passed a stopgap spending bill late Thursday.
The legislation hasn't scored well in national polls, in part because of concerns about its benefits for corporations and top earners. But Trump and other Republicans say average Americans will embrace it.
The bill slashes the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent and cuts individual tax rates across the board — though analyses have shown that most of the benefit would go to those at the top of the income scale.
It also imposes new limits on deductions used heavily in high-tax states with high home values, meaning some people in those areas will see higher tax bills.
Trump highlighted corporate responses to the new law. AT&T said Wednesday that it would give a special $1,000 bonus to 200,000 U.S. workers to celebrate the tax cut. Boeing Co. separately pledged $300 million for employee training, improved workplace infrastructure and corporate giving, crediting the new tax law.
"This is having an even bigger impact faster than I thought," Trump said Friday.
Trump said the bill will prompt abandoned factories to come back to life.
