- Washington Free Beacon - https://freebeacon.com -

Trump: 'Surprising' the Media Has Covered Tax Reforms Efforts 'For the Most Part Accurately'

President Donald Trump paid the media a backhanded compliment on Wednesday, praising journalists for their coverage of Republican tax reform efforts before calling it "surprising" that their reports have been "for the most" accurate.

Trump made the remarks on tax reform while meeting with members of his Cabinet at the White House.

"I'm especially thrilled to report that the Senate passed massive tax cuts and reform," Trump said.

"You know about that very well," he continued, speaking to the media members in the room. "You've covered it for the most part accurately, which is surprising for you folks, but that's OK."

Trump added that Congress is on the verge of a "historic victory" if lawmakers are able to pass tax reform so they can "cut taxes for the middle class."

"For businesses, it brings back probably an excess of $4 trillion," Trump said. "As you know, we have been saying $2.5 trillion for years. Well, that number is greatly expanded, and we'll be bringing back an excess of $4 trillion ... There will be a lot of jobs being brought back with that money."

The Washington Post in recent weeks has called out Democratic leaders for trying to push misleading or false statements about the Republican tax reform plan.

The Post's fact checker gave Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.) a "four Pinocchio" rating for falsely claiming on Twitter that the Republican tax bill would slash education and health benefits to give a tax break to private jet owners.

Perez and Merkley were not the only Democratic leaders to receive Pinocchios from the Post. Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) received three Pinocchios for falsely suggesting that wealthy private jet owners would gain from a "private jet tax break," and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) received two Pinocchios for making a misleading claim that 13 million people would be kicked off health insurance if the Obamacare individual mandate were to be repealed with the tax bill's passage.