Not dead yet: Trump exhorts Senate to drop Obamacare

WASHINGTON » Lecturing fellow Republicans, President Donald Trump summoned GOP senators to the White House Wednesday and told them face-to-face they must not leave town for their August recess without sending him an “Obamacare” repeal bill to sign.

“I’m ready to act,” Trump said, putting the responsibility on Republican senators, not himself. During last year’s presidential campaign he had declared repeatedly it would be “so easy” to get rid of the Obama law. Trump’s comments Wednesday came just a day after the latest GOP health care plan collapsed in the Senate, leading Trump himself to say it was time to simply let President Barack Obama’s health care law fail. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had indicated he was prepared to stick a fork in the Republican bill.

But in keeping with his erratic engagement on the issue, Trump pressured McConnell to delay the key vote until next week.