Leavitt: Historic U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Fund — “50% of Royalties”; Miller: “Largest Tax Cut Ever” and “I Couldn’t Pay You to Live Near MS-13”

Press Secretary Leavitt announced the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund in May 2025: “We secured a historic agreement. This partnership establishes a fund that will receive 50% of royalties, license fees, and payments from natural resource projects in Ukraine.” Stephen Miller previewed the tax bill: “The largest tax cut in American history. Every single Democrat is planning to vote against it — they’re voting for a $4,000 tax hike on every middle-class family.” Miller then delivered a blistering attack on media coverage of immigration: “Each of you that sides with MS-13 terrorists — to the extent you have the financial means to do so, you all choose to live as far away from these gangbangers as you possibly can. I couldn’t pay you to live there.”

U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Fund

Leavitt opened with the diplomatic breakthrough.

“Last night, we saw yet again why President Trump is our Dealmaker-in-Chief,” Leavitt said. “We secured a historic agreement to establish the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund.”

She described the structure: “This is a first-of-its-kind economic partnership for the reconstruction and long-term economic success of Ukraine that both the United States and Ukraine will greatly benefit from.”

She explained the American interest: “This partnership represents the United States taking an economic stake in securing a free, peaceful, and sovereign future for Ukraine.”

She specified the terms: “This partnership establishes a fund that will receive 50% of royalties, license fees, and other similar payments from natural resource projects in Ukraine.”

She connected to peace: “President Trump has been clear from the beginning — he wants the killing in this brutal war to end. This agreement shows how invested the president is in securing a truly lasting peace.”

The reconstruction fund addressed one of the central criticisms of U.S. involvement in Ukraine: that America was spending billions with no return. The fund structure meant that American investment in Ukraine’s reconstruction would generate returns through revenue-sharing on natural resource projects. Ukraine had significant mineral, energy, and agricultural resources that, properly developed, could generate substantial income.

The 50% royalty share was a business arrangement, not foreign aid. Instead of giving money away, the United States was investing in Ukraine’s future and sharing in the returns. This gave America a direct financial interest in Ukraine’s long-term stability and prosperity — aligning economic incentives with security objectives.

Miller: “Largest Tax Cut in History”

Miller outlined the tax bill’s impact on small businesses.

“The relief for small businesses is going to come in the form of the largest tax cut in American history,” Miller said.

He highlighted the partisan divide: “A tax cut, by the way, that every single Democrat is planning to vote against. They’re voting for a tax hike of about $4,000 on every middle-class family.”

He described the 100% expensing: “The president has made clear that there will be 100% expensing for investment in the United States. Companies that invest in the United States will be able to deduct 100% of that cost from their tax liability.”

He stated the assessment: “This will be the most pro-small business tax bill in American history.”

He connected tariffs to taxes: “As they’re able to reshore those supply chains, that also means they’ll pay no tariff. So you’ll have the lowest tax environment and no tariff because their production and supply chains will be in the United States.”

The “every single Democrat voting against” framing created a powerful political dynamic. If Democrats opposed the tax bill, they would be voting for the $4,000 per family tax increase that would result from the 2017 tax cuts expiring. Every Democratic senator and representative would face the question: did you vote for higher taxes on your constituents?

”I Couldn’t Pay You”

Miller’s attack on media hypocrisy was the most rhetorically aggressive passage.

“It is a sad reflection on the state of our media and many of the outlets represented in this room that you obsessively try to shill for this MS-13 terrorist,” Miller said.

He cited the Jocelyn Nungary case: “The Biden administration made the decision to give extensive due process to two Tren de Aragua terrorists apprehended at the border. They put them on ankle monitors and supervised release. What was the result? Those two men kidnapped a young girl named Jocelyn Nungary from her family.”

He indicted the coverage: “Most of your papers never covered her story when it happened. President Trump had to shame you into covering it.”

He delivered the devastating challenge: “Each and every one of you that sides over and over again with these MS-13 terrorists — to the extent you have the financial means to do so, you all choose to live in condos or homes or houses as far away from these gangbangers as you possibly can.”

He posed the hypothetical: “If I offered any one of you a rent-free home with no taxes to pay in any of these gang neighborhoods, and I said your neighbors are MS-13 or Sinaloa cartel or Tren de Aragua — I couldn’t pay you to live there.”

He stated the indictment: “But yet you with your coverage are trying to force innocent Americans to have these people as their neighbors.”

He concluded: “You’re not going to get an ounce of sympathy from this administration or President Trump for the terrorists who invaded our homes and our country.”

Miller’s “I couldn’t pay you” challenge was unanswerable. The reporters who advocated for the rights of MS-13 members and opposed deportation of violent criminals lived in neighborhoods where those criminals would never be found. The policies they championed imposed costs on communities they would never inhabit. The hypocrisy was geographic: wealthy journalists in safe neighborhoods demanding that working-class Americans accept dangerous criminals as neighbors.

Key Takeaways

• Leavitt announced the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund: “50% of royalties and license fees from natural resource projects — a first-of-its-kind economic partnership.”
• Miller: “The largest tax cut in American history. Every Democrat is voting against it — that’s a $4,000 tax hike on every middle-class family.”
• 100% expensing plus zero tariffs for domestic production: “The lowest tax environment and no tariff because supply chains will be in the United States.”
• Miller to media: “I couldn’t pay you to live near MS-13 terrorists, but your coverage forces innocent Americans to have them as neighbors.”
• He invoked Jocelyn Nungary — kidnapped by Tren de Aragua members Biden put on ankle monitors: “Trump had to shame you into covering it.”