AILSA CHANG, HOST:
President Trump was in Florida visiting a new migrant detention facility in the middle of the Everglades. At the same time, Senate Republicans back in Washington narrowly passed Trump's big tax cuts and spending bill. This was the president's reaction when someone in the audience at Trump's event delivered the news.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yay.
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TRUMP: Wow. Thank you. I - you know, I'm waiting, listening to these wonderful words, and they are music to my ears. But I was also wondering, how are we doing? 'Cause I know this is prime time. It shows that I care about you because I'm here, and I probably should be there.
CHANG: The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, either for final passage or additional changes. With more on Trump's reaction and the reason for his trip to Florida, we're joined now by NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith. Hi, Tam.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, let's start with the bill. President Trump has said he wants it on his desk by the Fourth of July. What do you think, Tam? Is he going to get what he wants?
KEITH: That is up in the air at this point. This bill really does contain the president's entire domestic legislative agenda all bundled together. It's tax cuts. It spends more on immigration enforcement and defense. It raises the debt ceiling. It does a whole bunch of other things. But an independent analysis finds it would add trillions to the deficit and could lead to millions of Americans losing their health coverage. And that is creating heartburn among House Republicans who aren't happy with the Senate version. President Trump was asked about that and said he wasn't worried.
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TRUMP: It's a great bill. There is something for everyone, and I think it's going to go very nicely in the House. Actually, I think it will be easier in the House than it was in the Senate.
KEITH: And he was also dismissive of the estimate that nearly 12 million people could lose Medicaid coverage. He said the number would actually be much lower, though it isn't clear what he's basing that on. I will just say the experience thus far with this bill has been that resistance from Republicans melts away in the face of pressure from Trump.
CHANG: OK. Well, let's talk about Trump's trip to Florida, if you can. He was there to tour, I understand, a new migrant detention facility. Can you tell us more about this place?
KEITH: Yeah, it's a temporary facility being built on an out-of-use airstrip in the middle of the Everglades. There are repurposed FEMA trailers and huge white tents complete with air conditioning and beds, with interior walls made of chain-link fencing. It was built by the state of Florida, and the state will be reimbursed with FEMA funding. And it's supposed to start housing migrants facing deportation beginning tomorrow, and can house up to 3,000 people. President Trump seemed pretty excited about the fact that it is surrounded by alligators and venomous snakes.
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TRUMP: It's known as Alligator Alcatraz, which is very appropriate because I looked outside, and it's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon. But very soon, this facility will house some of the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet. We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland, and the only way out is really deportation.
KEITH: He said he hopes that other governors will do the same thing and even suggested that maybe these sorts of facilities wouldn't be so temporary after all.
CHANG: Well, how do you think a facility like this fits in with President Trump's approach to immigration overall?
KEITH: He promised mass deportation, but the numbers haven't been massive so far. The White House said - says that they need additional Border Patrol and ICE officers that would be funded through the big bill that just passed the Senate today. But there's a real emphasis on self-deportation, including at the event today. The president and his allies are working really hard to make it uncomfortable and unappealing for people to stay in the U.S. without legal status. At one point today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, why would you want to come through Alligator Alcatraz if you could just go home on your own? Critics argue this is cruel and unusual, and the majority of people swept up on immigration raids at this point aren't hardened criminals, but people who came to the country illegally and have been living and working and raising families in the U.S.
CHANG: That is NPR's Tamara Keith. Thank you, Tam.
KEITH: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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