AP: Trump Tells Senators That House GOP Health Care Bill Is ‘Mean’

United States President Donald J. Trump looks on during a meeting with President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia in the Oval Office of the White House, on May 18, 2017 in Washington, DC. Credit: Olivier Douliery / Poo... United States President Donald J. Trump looks on during a meeting with President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia in the Oval Office of the White House, on May 18, 2017 in Washington, DC. Credit: Olivier Douliery / Pool via CNP - NO WIRE SERVICE - Photo by: Olivier Douliery/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump told Republican senators Tuesday that the House-passed health care bill is “mean” and urged them to craft a version that is “more generous,” congressional sources said.The president’s comments, at a White House lunch with 15 GOP senators, came as Senate Republican leaders’ attempts to write their own health care package have been slowed by disagreements between their party’s conservative and moderates.

Trump’s remarks were a surprising critique of a Republican-written House measure whose passage he lobbied for and praised. At a Rose Garden ceremony minutes after the bill’s narrow House passage, Trump called it “a great plan.”

His comments also seemed to undercut efforts by Senate conservatives to include restrictions in their chamber’s bill, such as cutting the Medicaid health care program for the poor and limiting the services insurers must cover. Moderate GOP senators have been pushing to ease those efforts.

The sources say the president did not specify what aspects of the bill he was characterizing.

Trump’s comments were described by two GOP congressional sources who received accounts of Tuesday’s White House lunch. They spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal a closed-door conversation.

Their descriptions of Trump’s words differed slightly.

One source said Trump called the House bill “mean, mean, mean” and said, “We need to be more generous, more kind.” The other source said Trump used a vulgar phrase to describe the House bill and told the senators, “We need to be more generous.”

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Is Trump unpredictable or unhinged. Or, unpredictably unhinged? Or unhingedly unpredictable Or, predictably unhingable? What does it mean? Is it average? Is it normal? Is it a normal distribution?

  2. Avatar for sanni sanni says:

    My first reaction: Wow, he is thinking about something other than how great he is, how great his win is etc., about other people.

    Second reaction (about 10 seconds delayed): He read something about His Trump Care being mean, mean, mean! And doesn’t want to be perceived as Mean - ala it is still him thinking about him.

  3. Avatar for docd docd says:

    So House members now know what the underside of a bus looks like.

  4. Avatar for mrf mrf says:

    Maybe he figured out that it would have a negative impact on kids like Barron. Oh perish the thought.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

9 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for leftflank Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for sanni Avatar for serendipitoussomnambulist Avatar for mrf Avatar for cincypix Avatar for tena Avatar for pandastirfry Avatar for docd Avatar for j.dave Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for centralasiaexpat Avatar for jakebarnes

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: