{"id":820,"date":"2026-07-06T13:40:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T08:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=820"},"modified":"2026-07-06T13:40:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T08:40:30","slug":"the-white-house-choreographed-a-victory-lap-trump-veered-off-script","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=820","title":{"rendered":"The White House choreographed a victory lap. Trump veered off script."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.politico.com\/56\/3d\/c42469954a3db0583a25e52aaa92\/trump-congress-75612.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-v-5d6b1cb2=\"\"><!--[--><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"plain-text-block\" class=\"font-text text-[length:var(--dimension-typescale-body-l)] text-[var(--color-text-primary)] leading-[1.6] mt-5 md:mt-[1.875rem]\">\u201cThis is a bipartisan bill that would\u2019ve given the White House a nice victory,\u201d said <!--[-->David Urban<!--]-->, a Republican strategist who advised <!--[-->Trump<!--]-->\u2019s 2016 campaign. \u201cAnd listen, it\u2019s still going to become law. It\u2019s not like the president is going to veto it. But it would have been a great story today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"plain-text-block\" class=\"font-text text-[length:var(--dimension-typescale-body-l)] text-[var(--color-text-primary)] leading-[1.6] mt-5 md:mt-[1.875rem]\">The housing bill \u2014 which passed with 358 votes in the House and 85 in the Senate \u2014 included a proposal intended to lower the cost of housing by banning institutional investors from purchasing single family homes, which <!--[-->Trump<!--]--> <!--[--><a href=\"https:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/documents\/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-the-state-the-union-31\" class=\"text-[var(--color-link-default)]\" data-linkextra=\"false\"><!--[--><span style=\"text-decoration:underline;\">touted in his State of the Union<\/span><!--]--><\/a><!----><!--]-->. White House legislative affairs director <!--[-->James Braid<!--]--> worked for weeks to iron out differences between the House and Senate version. Press secretary <!--[--><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PressSec\/status\/2069598788960862561?s=20\" class=\"text-[var(--color-link-default)]\" data-linkextra=\"false\"><!--[--><span style=\"text-decoration:underline;\"><!--[-->Karoline Leavitt<!--]--> <\/span><!--]--><\/a><!----><!--]-->and former deputy chief of staff <!--[--><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JamesBlairUSA\/status\/2069755509373047234?s=20\" class=\"text-[var(--color-link-default)]\" data-linkextra=\"false\"><!--[--><!--[--><span style=\"text-decoration:underline;\">James Blair<\/span><!--]--><!--]--><\/a><!----><!--]--> heralded the signing on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"plain-text-block\" class=\"font-text text-[length:var(--dimension-typescale-body-l)] text-[var(--color-text-primary)] leading-[1.6] mt-5 md:mt-[1.875rem]\">But Trump\u2019s <!--[--><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/barely-check-the-box-trying-trump-frustrated-gop-isnt-following-his-roadmap-00965797\" class=\"text-[var(--color-link-default)]\" data-linkextra=\"false\"><!--[--><span style=\"text-decoration:underline;\">fixation on the SAVE America Act<\/span><!--]--><\/a><!----><!--]-->, which he believes is key to protecting election integrity, upended the stagecraft. Instead of spending the day celebrating, aides and lobbyists were left scrambling to pick up the pieces, trying to divine why <!--[-->Trump<!--]--> had changed course and what it all meant for the future of the housing bill.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"plain-text-block\" class=\"font-text text-[length:var(--dimension-typescale-body-l)] text-[var(--color-text-primary)] leading-[1.6] mt-5 md:mt-[1.875rem]\"><!--[-->Trump<!--]--> did not publicly address the issue or the sudden change during his brief stop on Capitol Hill where he joined Senate Republicans for lunch, <!--[--><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/06\/24\/donald-trump-senate-lunch-00974397\" class=\"text-[var(--color-link-default)]\" data-linkextra=\"false\"><!--[--><span style=\"text-decoration:underline;\">which turned into a venting session<\/span><!--]--><\/a><!----><!--]--> that left the two sides no closer to a detente. Speaking in the Oval Office later, he said there was \u201cno compromise\u201d he was open to on the SAVE America Act to get it included in a third reconciliation bill <!--[-->Hill<!--]--> Republicans are working on.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"plain-text-block\" class=\"font-text text-[length:var(--dimension-typescale-body-l)] text-[var(--color-text-primary)] leading-[1.6] mt-5 md:mt-[1.875rem]\">The about face comes as White House is attempting to pivot away from the unpopular Iran war toward domestic issues and remind voters of the administration\u2019s accomplishments. Beyond the housing bill, Trump is expected to give a rally-style speech on the National Mall Wednesday night. There are also plans to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Big Beautiful Bill, which Trump signed last July 4, \u201cto remind the public that President <!--[-->Trump<!--]--> delivered on his promise to cut taxes &#8211; and Democrats opposed it every step of the way,\u201d <!--[--><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/06\/23\/no-one-wants-to-talk-about-iran-white-house-hopes-to-pivot-back-to-economy-00972933?utm_campaign=mil-ebb&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=sailthru\" class=\"text-[var(--color-link-default)]\" data-linkextra=\"false\"><!--[--><span style=\"text-decoration:underline;\">a senior administration official told POLITICO on Tuesday. <\/span><!--]--><\/a><!----><!--]--><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"plain-text-block\" class=\"font-text text-[length:var(--dimension-typescale-body-l)] text-[var(--color-text-primary)] leading-[1.6] mt-5 md:mt-[1.875rem]\">Instead, some <!--[-->Trump<!--]--> allies, including proponents of the SAVE America Act, argue the reversal squandered a day that should have been about affordability and stepped on a news cycle that had otherwise handed the party a gift in the form of dyed-in-the-wool socialists winning Democratic primaries in New York.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"plain-text-block\" class=\"font-text text-[length:var(--dimension-typescale-body-l)] text-[var(--color-text-primary)] leading-[1.6] mt-5 md:mt-[1.875rem]\">\u201cThe SAVE Act is important and deserves to become law,\u201d said a person close to the White House, who like others in this story was granted anonymity to share details of private conversations. \u201cBut delaying a major housing package that would deliver real relief to American families risks cutting off our nose to spite our face.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThis is a bipartisan bill that would\u2019ve given the White House a nice victory,\u201d said David Urban, a Republican strategist who advised Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign. \u201cAnd listen, it\u2019s still going to become law. It\u2019s not like the president is going to veto it. But it would have been a great story today.\u201d The housing bill&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.politico.com\/56\/3d\/c42469954a3db0583a25e52aaa92\/trump-congress-75612.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}