President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” is set to reshape the American economic and social landscape, delivering sweeping changes to taxes, social programs, border security, and more.
Passed by a narrow margin in Congress, the 840-page legislation cements Trump’s second-term domestic agenda and has sparked intense debate over who stands to benefit—and who will bear the brunt of the reforms.
Tax Cuts: Winners and Losers
Winners:
- Middle- and upper-income earners will benefit from the bill’s permanent extension of the 2017 Trump-era tax cuts.
- Service industry workers gain a temporary exemption from taxes on tips and overtime pay through 2028.
- Businesses can immediately deduct research and development expenses, and the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) is temporarily quadrupled.
Losers:
- Clean energy buyers and advocates lose out, as the bill eliminates tax credits for electric vehicles and solar projects after September 2025.
- Wealthy universities face new taxes on their endowments, partially offsetting tax cuts elsewhere.
- Social Security, Medicaid, and Social ProgramsWinners:
- Older adults earning less than $75,000 annually will receive a $6,000 deduction, providing targeted relief for many seniors.
Losers:
- Low-income Americans are hit hardest, with deep cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs. New work requirements mean the poor must work at least 80 hours a month to qualify for medical aid. Parents of children over 14 must also work to retain benefits, and millions are expected to lose health coverage by 2034.
- Social Security beneficiaries see only modest tweaks to deductions, falling short of Trump’s earlier pledge to scrap taxes on these benefits altogether.
Student Loans and Child Benefits
Winners:
- Families with children benefit from a new savings program: every child born between 2024 and 2028 will receive a $1,000 “Trump Account” seeded by the government.
- Child tax credit is increased from $2,000 to $2,200 (and indexed for inflation from 2026), with higher income limits for eligibility.
Losers:
Students and recent graduates see no new relief for student loans, and education funding is not a focus of the bill.
Car Loans and Electric Vehicles
Winners:
Buyers of US-manufactured vehicles gain a tax deduction on car loan interest, encouraging domestic auto sales.
Losers:
Buyers of electric vehicles lose the $7,500 federal tax credit, which ends after September 2025, and similar credits for used EVs and home energy improvements are also eliminated.
Immigration enforcement officers:
10,000 new positions will be created, each with a $10,000 signing bonus.
Losers:
Undocumented immigrants: The bill funds the expulsion of over 100,000 illegal immigrants annually and imposes new fines for asylum seekers and those caught crossing illegally.
Defense and Infrastructure
Winners:
Defense contractors: The bill allocates $25 billion for a new air defense system (“Golden Dome”), $21 billion for ammunition, and $34 billion for the naval fleet.
Trump’s “Big, Beautiful” Bill delivers permanent tax cuts, boosts border and defense spending, and slashes social safety nets and green incentives. The wealthy, businesses, and border security stand to gain, while low-income Americans, clean energy advocates, and undocumented immigrants will face the greatest losses.
