President Donald Trump hosted an event at the White House for business leaders and workers across the country to celebrate the tax cut bill.
Truckers, restaurant workers, plumbers, and pest control workers attended the event, which was held in the Rose Garden.
“America’s greatest treasure by far is our people, and my administration hears your voice, and we have your back,” Trump said.
Quentin Ward, a trucker and veteran of the Armed Forces, thanked Trump for the tax cut bonus, saying he would use it to fund an RV trip to visit his family in Florida.
“This president understands that government doesn’t create jobs; businesses and people do,” Ward said. “The tax reform law puts money back in my pocket. It has a direct impact on me.”
Brittany Saxton, a woman who ran a pizza restaurant in Ohio, said the tax cuts enabled her to open a second restaurant with some of her managers and to provide health insurance for them.
A manager for a plumbing company in Las Vegas, Nevada, said the tax bill helped him purchase much-needed equipment and give bonuses to his employees.
One of the plumber apprentices at the event said he used his company’s tax cut bonus to help pay medical bills for his newborn son, who had to spend a week in intensive care.
Trump thanked all the workers who attended the event.
“You are the ones who are restoring our prosperity, you are the ones who are truly bringing and making America first again, and you are the ones that are taking us to levels that we’ve never seen before,” Trump said.
He promised to continue cutting regulations and taxes, in addition to increasing infrastructure spending to prioritize jobs and economic growth in the United States.
“From the day I took the oath of office, I’ve been fighting to drain the swamp. And sometimes, it may not look like it, but, believe me, we are draining the swamp,” he said.
During the event, Trump announced the results of the latest National Association of Manufacturers’ survey, which projected another all-time high after it had already broken the record in the first year of his presidency.
“We’re just getting started,” Trump said. “There’s enthusiasm like we’ve never seen before.”