Trump suggests movement on corporate tax rate after Senate killed Rubio proposal

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump suggested Saturday that he could live with setting the corporate tax rate at 22 percent after insisting on 20 percent, a red line that helped defeat Sen. Marco Rubio's proposal to help more working class families.

"Business tax all the way down from 35 to 20," Trump told reporters on Saturday. "It could be 22 when it all comes out but it could also be 20. We'll see what ultimately comes out."

The Senate, which passed its bill early Saturday after killing Rubio's plan, must now go to conference with the House to work out differences.

Did Trump provided an opening for Rubio?

The Florida Republican would have to battle with other competing interests, including calls from Trump and others to drop the top tax rate paid by wealthy individuals.

"Their tax rate did not fall much in the House and Senate tax overhaul plans, which led to griping and complaints from wealthy GOP campaign contributors," the Washington Post reports.

Business groups are also not likely to give up what they've won. Among the opponents of Rubio's plan: The Koch brothers.

So it could just be that Trump was riffing a bit and that the final tax bill is fairly quickly ironed out, delivering the GOP and the president a major victory before the end of the year.