Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is hitting the road this week to promote President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ to Americans across the country.

Among his first stops was Tennessee’s iconic Nashville Palace, where he spoke with employees about the massive GOP agenda bill’s provisions eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages.

‘We’re so glad to see y’all. We’re here to talk about the no tax on tips provision,’ Johnson said in a video obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital. ‘You know what this means, at the end of the day, everybody has more money in their pockets and less money they’ve got to send to Washington.’

The footage also shows Nashville Palace general manager Cole noting that his staff were ‘happier.’

‘Everybody’s a little more happy when they make a little more money,’ Cole said.

Johnson also spoke directly with workers Vince and Shelby at the event, with Shelby telling the speaker she was ‘really happy to hear’ about the new tax provisions.

‘We think the numbers for Tennessee are pretty extraordinary,’ Johnson replied, noting ‘there’s a lot of tipped workers in Music City.’

Bartender Vince noted that eliminating taxes on tips would make his life ‘easier,’ later noting that it would give him a chance to travel and worry less about money.

It comes as Republicans have launched a full-court press tour promoting Trump’s agenda bill, even as Democrats attempt to wield it as a political cudgel ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Critics of the bill have positioned it as a tax giveaway for wealthy Americans at the expense of vulnerable Americans, citing provisions including new heightened work requirements for certain people on Medicaid and who receive federal food benefits.

Johnson took on those criticisms as well later that evening, while speaking at an event for the Tennessee Republican Party.

‘That’s real money for real people,’ Johnson said of the legislation. ‘Now, we can never forget. We never forget that every single Democrat in Congress – House and Senate – voted against every one of those big wins for the people. And we’ve got to remind the voters of that when the left lies about our bills.’

He accused Democrats of ‘lying’ about the legislation as their only political crutch.

‘How many of you know that’s all they got left? They don’t have a leader, no platform, no policies that are digestible by the American people. They just have to lie about what we’re doing,’ Johnson said.

‘Democrats voted against the prosperity and security of the American people. And they voted against working families’ tax cuts. It’s that simple, and they cannot escape it.’

Trump himself called the legislation ‘the largest working-class tax cuts in American history’ in comments to reporters ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The bill passed the House and Senate just before GOP leaders’ self-imposed Fourth of July deadline, with Trump marking the holiday in a large signing ceremony.

But the Democratic opposition this August has been fierce. 

In addition to holding events in their own constituencies, both House and Senate Democrats have traveled across the country criticizing the bill.

‘Just spoke with seniors in Martinsville about some of the fallout from Trump’s Big Ugly Bill,’ Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., wrote on X of a recent event he held in his state. ‘When the impacts of this scam start, we’re all going to be stuck footing the bill with worse and more expensive health care.’

President Donald Trump boasted that he has raised more than $1.5 billion ‘in various forms and political entities’ following the 2024 presidential contest.

‘I am pleased to report that I have raised, since the Great Presidential Election of 2024, in various forms and political entities, in excess of 1.5 Billion Dollars. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!! President DJT,’ he wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.

Trump, who is currently serving his second term in office, is constitutionally barred from being elected president a third time.

‘No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,’ the 22nd Amendment states.

But despite being term-limited from running again, Trump remains a Republican juggernaut.

And with the 2026 midterms on the horizon, and the Republican majority in each chamber of Congress on the line, the money could help the GOP maintain its grip on power through the end of the president’s White House tenure.

Fox News Digital reported in late June that Trump had secured commitments for $1.4 billion following Election Day in 2024. ‘The president’s political operation, including the cash on hand at the Republican National Committee, has raised a historic $900 million since November, and other commitments will bring the total to more than $1.4 billion,’ the report noted.

House Democrats are urging the Trump administration to allow children injured in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war to enter the U.S. for emergency medical care.

In an Aug. 25 letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, more than 140 lawmakers asked for the reversal of a recent move to halt the approval of all visitor visas for people from the Gaza Strip, including children in need of medical care.

‘This pause will deny children the medical care they desperately need. It is wrong to prevent children who are caught in the middle of this horrific conflict from receiving lifesaving medical care,’ the letter reads.

‘In addition, this decision ignores the fact that all Palestinians leaving Gaza for medical treatment or to accompany family members receiving medical treatment are already subject to rigorous vetting by the Israeli government, including an Israeli security clearance, identity verification, and an assessment whether they are linked to Hamas,’ it continued.

The letter comes after the State Department abruptly announced earlier this month that it would stop issuing travel visas to people from Gaza, including medical-humanitarian visas, while it reviewed the process that allowed some of those individuals to enter the U.S. Some had already done so before the pause.

‘All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days,’ the State Department wrote in a social media post on Aug. 16, without offering additional details.

Rubio has said the change was made after several congressional offices reached out with allegations ‘that some of the organizations bragging about, and involved in, acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas.’

‘It’s not just kids, it’s a bunch of adults that are accompanying them,’ Rubio said during an appearance on CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation’ the day after the announcement.

Before the agency’s announcement, several children from Gaza arrived in the U.S. to receive medical treatment ‘without incident,’ the House Democrats wrote in the letter.

‘We appeal to you to immediately reverse the State Department’s decision and resume allowing those from Gaza with approved temporary medical-humanitarian visas to enter the United States to receive the lifesaving care they need,’ the lawmakers wrote to Rubio.

The letter asks Rubio to specify the national security concerns that sparked the change to visa approvals. The lawmakers also requested a timeline for the agency’s review process and asked what safeguards are being considered to prevent the disruption of emergency medical care programs.

The Democrats also called on the department to allow children from Gaza requiring emergency medical attention to be exempt from the pause.

‘We would appreciate any clarification regarding the policy’s basis and a reassessment of its impact on vulnerable individuals and families in desperate need,’ the letter reads.

President Donald Trump is pushing a new economic strategy: having the U.S. government take direct stakes in major U.S. companies. He argues it’s a way to make the country stronger by shoring up industries that fuel prosperity and safeguard national security.

The first big example came last week, when the White House announced the government now owns nearly 10% of Intel. The California-based chipmaker had received federal grants to boost U.S. production, but those funds have now been converted into a formal ownership share.

The U.S. government has historically offered loans, tax breaks, or contracts to private companies — but owning stock in them is much less common, raising questions about how far Trump’s approach might go and how Intel’s competitors may view the move.

One of those competitors, SkyWater Technology, a Minnesota-based semiconductor foundry with deep ties to the defense sector, welcomed the precedent while underscoring its all-American footprint.

‘We view equity stakes as an important tool to ensure accountability when taxpayer dollars support companies whose global structures raise questions about long-term U.S. benefit,’ Ross Miller, SVP of Commercial and A&D Business, told Fox News Digital. 

He contrasted that with SkyWater’s position as a fully domestic manufacturer: ‘SkyWater is different — we are U.S.-headquartered and U.S.-operated, with no foreign ownership or entanglements.’

‘Every dollar invested here directly strengthens America’s infrastructure, workforce, and independence,’ Miller added.

Looking ahead, he said SkyWater hopes to deepen collaboration with the Trump administration to expand domestic capacity in foundational chip technologies — the tried-and-true manufacturing methods that still power reliable systems in airplanes, automobiles, defense, biomedical equipment and even quantum computing.

SkyWater isn’t the only U.S. chipmaker that could be affected by Trump’s new approach. New York-based GlobalFoundries, a semiconductor manufacturer, operates large-scale chip fabs in New York and Vermont. Supported by federal funding, these sites play a central role in U.S. efforts to bring back more domestic chip production.

Given the firm’s federally-backed fabs on U.S. soil, GlobalFoundries could become a candidate for equity-linked deals tied to Trump’s semiconductor resilience goals. 

Similarly, Micron Technology, which is investing tens of billions of dollars to build memory chip fabs in New York and Idaho with the support of CHIPS Act funding, could also fall under consideration. The Boise, Idaho-based company has positioned itself as a cornerstone of U.S. efforts to restore leadership in advanced memory manufacturing.

GlobalFoundries and Micron did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

On Monday, Trump suggested this was just the beginning. ‘I hope I’m going to have many more cases like it,’ he told reporters at the White House, hinting that his administration could pursue similar deals in other sectors.

But not everyone sees the move as positive. 

‘This is bad policy and the most glaring example to date of the administration’s tilt towards socialism. It’s an unprecedented move, so I’m hesitant to make any predictions,’ explained Jai Kedia, a research fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives.

Kedia also warned the policy could display ‘favoritism towards large firms that can negotiate deals with the executive at the expense of small and mid-size firms that do not have the political clout to arrange such deals.’