WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump on Tuesday pressured House Republicans to unify around a wide-ranging bill to deliver his domestic agenda, making a visit to Capitol Hill to urge his fractious members to overcome divisions that could sink the package.

Joining Republicans at their weekly closed-door meeting, Trump pushed lawmakers to drop their reservations about the legislation and embrace the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which they hope to bring to a vote by the end of the week.

As Speaker Mike Johnson hunts for the votes to pass the measure, the president made it clear that he saw the package as a test of loyalty to him, saying he had been a “cheerleader” for the party, and warning that any holdouts “wouldn’t be a Republican much longer.”But the entreaties appeared to do little to resolve the rifts that have plagued the measure for weeks. Many Republicans emerged from the session with Trump saying they still were not sold, and wanted further changes before they could back the bill.

“The president, I don’t think, convinced enough people that the bill is adequate the way that it is,” Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, chair of the Freedom Caucus, told reporters as he left the meeting. Harris said Republicans were “still a long way’s away — but we can get there.”

Several Republican factions have expressed concern about the details of the sprawling bill, which would extend the 2017 tax cuts and eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay; raise spending on the military and immigration enforcement; and cut Medicaid, food stamps, education and subsidies for clean energy to pay for some of it.

Praise and scorn

Behind closed doors, Trump addressed each of the factions in turn, according to lawmakers who attended the meeting, lavishing praise on some Republicans and scorning others who have withheld their support for the legislation.

Those singled out included Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a libertarian who opposes the bill because it is projected to add trillions of dollars to the deficit, and Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, a more moderate lawmaker from a politically competitive district who wants bigger state and local tax deductions.

Trump also scolded a bloc of conservative Republicans who have refused to back the bill because it does not include structural changes to Medicaid that would result in deeper cuts. Using profanity-laden language, Trump warned that Republicans shouldn’t mess “around with Medicaid.”

“He said, ‘Don’t cut Medicaid — just shut up about it,’” Massie said. “He said, ‘You can go after waste, fraud and abuse — that’s it; stop there.’ He was talking to the Freedom Caucus about that.”

To Republicans from high-tax states who are holding out for a substantially higher limit on the state and local tax deduction, known as SALT, Massie quoted the president as saying: “Quit talking about SALT. Don’t ask for any more.”

Some want more cuts

Trump has previously served as Johnson’s most powerful tool to get restive lawmakers in line on tough votes. It has been common for holdouts on matters of major import — the election of the speaker, the budget blueprint laying out the spending targets for the domestic policy bill — to cave after receiving a well-timed call from the president.

But his pleas Tuesday did not seem to yield many converts, and in some cases may have further alienated holdouts.

Trump’s comments on Medicaid, in particular rankled conservatives who have been lobbying for fundamental changes to the program. He told reporters as he entered the closed-door meeting that the legislation would not cut any Medicaid benefits and the reductions it did make were largely insignificant.

“We are not doing any cutting of anything meaningful,” he said. “The only thing we’re cutting is waste, fraud and abuse. With Medicaid — waste, fraud and abuse.”

The legislation, as currently written, is predicted to result in at least 8.6 million Americans becoming uninsured, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Republican leaders omitted two of the most aggressive options they had considered to cut Medicaid, bowing to Trump’s stated opposition and to more moderate Republicans, mostly from politically competitive districts, who said they could not accept such reductions.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., a member of the Freedom Caucus, said it was “inappropriate” for Republicans to say that they “aren’t going to touch” Medicaid — a phrase that Trump has used — and then “leave all that fraud in the system.” He suggested that provider taxes, which states use to offset their portion of the cost of Medicaid, were a form of “fraud” that he would want to eliminate.

Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona said he still wanted more spending cuts.

“There is a lot in our federal government that gives us room to reduce,” he said. “And we want to get as balanced as we possibly can.”

White House officials regard passage of the domestic policy legislation as critical to delivering on Trump’s agenda and campaign promises, including tax cuts and stricter border enforcement. They view those policies as central to the president’s decisive victory in the election, as well as Republican control of Congress.

“I think we have unbelievable unity,” Trump said at the Capitol after leaving the meeting. “I think we’re going to get everything we want. And I think we’re going to have a great victory.”