Equity - Additional Information (Details)																				1 Months Ended					3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 22, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2018 $ / shares	Sep. 27, 2018 $ / shares	Jun. 28, 2018 $ / shares	Jun. 22, 2018 $ / shares	Mar. 30, 2018 $ / shares	Feb. 23, 2018 $ / shares	Dec. 29, 2017 $ / shares	Sep. 29, 2017 $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2017 $ / shares	Jun. 23, 2017 $ / shares	Mar. 31, 2017 $ / shares	Feb. 24, 2017 $ / shares	Dec. 30, 2016 $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2016 $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2016 $ / shares	Jun. 24, 2016 $ / shares	Mar. 31, 2016 $ / shares	Feb. 26, 2016 $ / shares	Jan. 31, 2019 $ / shares	Jan. 31, 2019 $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred stock, shares authorized | shares																										50,000,000	50,000,000
Common stock, dividends declared (per share) | $ / shares		$ 0.75	$ 0.75	$ 0.75		$ 0.75		$ 0.73	$ 0.73	$ 0.73		$ 0.73		$ 0.72	$ 0.72	$ 0.72		$ 0.72								$ 3.00	$ 2.92	$ 2.88
Common stock, dividends declared																										$ 2,979,000,000	$ 2,942,000,000	$ 2,922,000,000
Payments for repurchase of common stock																										$ 905,000,000	375,000,000	0
Shares paid for tax withholding and exercise price for share based compensation | shares																										46,493
Subsequent Event [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividends declared (per share) | $ / shares																				$ 0.77
Sands China Ltd. [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividends declared (per share) | $ / shares					$ 1.00		$ 0.99				$ 1.00		$ 0.99				$ 1.00		$ 0.99
Common stock, dividends declared																										$ 2,050,000,000	2,070,000,000	2,070,000,000
Proceeds from dividends received																										$ 1,440,000,000	$ 1,450,000,000	$ 1,450,000,000
Sands China Ltd. [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividends declared (per share) | $ / shares																					$ 0.99
Common stock, dividends declared	$ 1,020,000,000
Proceeds from dividends received	$ 715,000,000
Share Repurchase Program [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock repurchased (in shares) | shares																										14,998,127	6,194,137	0
Payments for repurchase of common stock																										$ 905,000,000	$ 375,000,000
October 2014 Program [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Stock repurchase program, authorized amount																								$ 2,000,000,000.0
Stock repurchase program, expiration																								Oct. 09, 2016
November 2016 Program [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Stock repurchase program, authorized amount																							$ 1,560,000,000
Stock repurchase program, expiration																							Nov. 02, 2018
Stock repurchase program, remaining authorized repurchase amount																													$ 1,110,000,000
June 2018 Program [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Stock repurchase program, expiration																						Nov. 02, 2020
Stock repurchase program, remaining authorized repurchase amount																						$ 2,500,000,000
Retained Earnings [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividends declared																										2,352,000,000	2,310,000,000	$ 2,288,000,000
Retained Earnings [Member] | Scenario, Forecast [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividends declared																									$ 597,000,000
Retained Earnings [Member] | Principal Stockholder and His Family [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividends declared																										1,300,000,000	1,260,000,000	1,240,000,000
Retained Earnings [Member] | All Other Shareholders [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividends declared																										1,050,000,000	1,050,000,000	1,050,000,000
Noncontrolling Interest [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividends declared																										627,000,000	632,000,000	634,000,000
Noncontrolling Interest [Member] | Other [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, dividends declared																										$ 12,000,000	$ 13,000,000	$ 15,000,000