In a meeting with Republican senators Tuesday to discuss health care reform, President Donald Trump gave them support to move in a different direction from the House-passed version of the legislation which he described as “mean,” according to two Senate aides whose bosses attended the lunch.
“He talked about making sure we have a bill that protects people with pre-existing conditions and helps people. We talked a little bit about the tax credit to make that work for low income elderly people,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who attended the meeting, said. “And he certainly is fine with us taking a different direction with what the house did.”
After the House passed its bill last month, Trump took a victory lap, holding a news conference in the Rose Garden flanked by members of Congress whom he praised for passing a “great plan.”
Tuesday’s lunch meeting resulted in little tangible progress on how to gain the support of nearly all Republican senators needed for it to pass the Senate.
