Donald Trump, the self praised “great negotiator” walked away from negotiations today demanding a vote on his TrumpDontCare healthcare bill.
Abandoning negotiations, President Donald Trump on Thursday demanded a make-or-break vote on health care legislation in the House, threatening to leave “Obamacare” in place and move on to other issues if Friday’s vote fails.
The risky move, part gamble and part threat, was presented to GOP lawmakers behind closed doors Thursday night after a long and intense day that saw a planned vote on the health care bill scrapped as the legislation remained short of votes amid cascading negotiations among conservative lawmakers, moderates and others.
At the end of it the president had had enough and was ready to vote and move on, whatever the result, Trump’s budget director Mick Mulvaney told lawmakers.
“‘Negotiations are over, we’d like to vote tomorrow and let’s get this done for the American people.’ That was it,” Rep. Duncan Hunter of California said as he left the meeting, summarizing Mulvaney’s message to lawmakers.
And if the vote fails, Obamacare “stays for now,” Hunter said.
“Let’s vote,” White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said as he left the meeting.
The outcome of Friday’s vote was uncertain. Both conservative and moderate lawmakers claimed the bill lacked votes after a long day of talks.
