Trump says health care reform "more difficult" than solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
President Trump told reporters en route to Paris Thursday that the only issue more difficult than solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is striking a deal on health care reform.
"I'd say the only thing more difficult than peace between Israel and the Palestinians is health care," Mr. Trump said aboard Air Force One to the White House press corps.
"It's like this narrow road that about a quarter of an inch wide. You get a couple here and you say, great, and then you find out you just lost four over here. Health care is tough," he said.
Mr. Trump added that "we're going to have something that's really good and that people are going to like."
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which his son-in-law Jared Kushner has been tasked with resolving, has been a decades-old dispute that is considered one of the most intractable of all time.
After the president landed in France for Bastille Day festivities, Senate Republicans released a modified version of their health care bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. The changes may not be enough to win over both conservatives and moderates who were opposed to the original plan. Already, two Republicans are signalling they'll vote no.
The Senate is expected to vote next week on a motion to proceed to the bill, but it's still not clear yet if that will be successful. A cost estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is expected to be released Monday.
In an interview recorded Wednesday with Christian Broadcasting Network's Pat Robertson, President Trump warned that he will be "very angry" if Senate Republicans fail to pass legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare.
"I don't even want to talk about it because I think it would be very bad," Mr. Trump said. "I will be very angry about it and a lot of people will be very upset. But I'm sitting waiting for that bill to come to my desk. I hope that they do it. They've been promising it for years. They've been promising it ever since Obamacare, which is failed. It's a failed experiment. It is totally gone. It's out of business and we have to get this done. Repeal and replace."
