The president said he called the Senate minority leader to ask whether Democrats would work with him on health care — and Trump indicated that he wasn’t entirely rebuffed.
Frustrated by Republican inaction on health care, President Trump said Saturday that he had reached out to the leader of Senate Democrats in hopes of brokering a deal for a “great HealthCare Bill.”
Trump said that he called Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday to ask whether Democrats would work with him on health care — and Trump indicated that he had not been entirely rebuffed.
In a Saturday morning tweet, Trump wrote, “I called Chuck Schumer yesterday to see if the Dems want to do a great HealthCare Bill. ObamaCare is badly broken, big premiums. Who knows!”
Trump is seeking to revive legislative efforts to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, former president Barack Obama’s signature 2010 health-care law. Republicans control the House and Senate but have repeatedly failed to pass a health-care bill through the upper chamber.
Trump’s outreach to Schumer comes after the president infuriated fellow Republicans by negotiating a deal last month with Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government.
Trump’s dealings with “Chuck and Nancy,” as he affectionately called them, was seen by some congressional Republicans as an act of betrayal but have earned the president plaudits and showed him to be the bipartisan dealmaker he said he would be.
The Republican efforts to “repeal and replace Obamacare,” which for years has been the GOP’s campaign mantra, so far have garnered no Democratic support.
But Schumer and other Democrats have said they would be open to discussions with Trump and other Republicans to consider selective changes to the Affordable Care Act.
This summer, Schumer publicly offered to negotiate with Trump if Republicans were willing to drop what he called a “fundamentally flawed approach.”
“Let’s start over,” the Democratic leader said in June, challenging the president to invite Senate Democrats to Blair House for a meeting. “You think we’re not serious? Try us. Democrats are ready to turn the page on health care.”
