By Shane Croucher
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President Donald Trump lashed out at Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, calling his ideas "actually crazy" over his criticism of the big tax bill for its potential impact on the bloating U.S. debt pile.
"Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially the tremendous GROWTH that is coming," Trump posted to Truth Social on Tuesday morning. "He loves voting 'NO' on everything, he thinks it's good politics, but it's not. The BBB is a big WINNER!!!"
BBB is a reference to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the sprawling tax-and-spending centerpiece of Trump's domestic agenda, which includes tax cuts and increased funding for the military and border enforcement. It narrowly passed the House and is now heading to the Senate.
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Newsweek reached out to Paul's Senate office via email or comment.
Why It Matters
The attack illustrates the internal Republican divide between fiscal conservatives who are sounding the alarm over public debt and interest payments, and those who believe the bill will pay for itself because the tax cuts will fuel a new era of strong economic growth.
It faced an uphill—but ultimately successful—battle in the House over similar debates between Republicans, and differences on cuts to Medicaid. It squeaked through on the tightest of margins, foreshadowing a similarly difficult path in the GOP-majority Senate.
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What To Know
Trump continued his attack on Paul in another Truth Social post on Tuesday morning: "Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can't stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!"
Shortly after Trump's posts, Paul shared an article with his comments about the bill from the weekend, writing on X, formerly Twitter: "I want to see the tax cuts made permanent, but I also want to see the $5 trillion in new debt removed from the bill. At least 4 of us in the Senate feel this way."
Paul had said the "math doesn't really add up" in Trump's bill during an appearance on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday.
"One of the things this big and beautiful bill is, is it's a vehicle for increasing spending for the military and for the border. It's about $320 billion in new spending," Paul said.
"To put that in perspective, that's more than all the DOGE cuts that we found so far."
He called it "a bill by the military-industrial complex advocates who are padding the military budget."
"I think they're asking for too much money. And in the end, the way you add it up...is how much debt are they going to borrow? Five trillion over two years. An enormous amount," Paul said.
Paul said he could support the bill if an increase to the debt ceiling—the borrowing limit for the federal government—is removed.
The U.S. public debt was $36.2 trillion at the end of 2024, accounting for almost 122 percent of the country's GDP, according to federal data.
What People Are Saying
Senator Chuck Schumer, on X: "For years, Republicans screamed about fiscal responsibility. Now? Republicans are backing a bill that could add over $50 TRILLION to the national debt over 30 years."
Senator Ted Cruz told Fox News at the end of May: "We will get it done. Now, it's going to be bumpy, it's going to be messy. But we will get it done because it is the main vehicle for us to deliver on the mandate from the voters.
"We are going to secure the border, we are going to rebuild the military, we are going to cut taxes. And I hope and believe the Senate is going to cut spending more than the House; that we're going to see the Senate be more fiscally conservative, and to stop bankrupting this country.
An open letter by six Nobel laureate economists from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute said: "The most acute and immediate damage stemming from this bill would be felt by the millions of American families losing key safety net protections like Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
"The Medicaid cuts constitute a sad step backward in the nation's commitment to providing access to health care for all. Proponents of the House bill often claim that these Medicaid cuts can be achieved simply by imposing work reporting requirements on healthy, working-age adults.
"But healthy, working-age adults are by definition not heavy consumers of health spending, so achieving the budgeted Medicaid cuts will obviously harm others as well."
What Happens Next
The bill will now be debated and refined in the Senate, with as many as five Republicans unhappy with the legislation in its current form.
Update 6/3/25, 10:53 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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