TRUMP SOFTENS ON ‘OBAMACARE’
US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump has said he may not fully repeal Barack Obama’s major healthcare bill. Mr Trump had pledged to completely replace the Affordable Care Act – so-called Obamacare – but has now said he will maintain a ban on insurers denying coverage for preexisting conditions.
The property tycoon also told the Wall Street Journal he favoured allowing young adults to be insured on their parents’ policies – adding he liked those two key pillars of the bill “very much”.
The announcement raised eyebrows after Mr Trump repeatedly vowed on the campaign trail to repeal the act “on day one” of his presidency.
It was his meeting with Mr Obama on Thursday that had made him reconsider his calls for an all-out replacement of the Affordable Care Act, he told the newspaper.
He also said that he wants “a country that loves each other” but said he did not regret his incendiary rhetoric during the campaign against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, saying: “No. I won.”
And ill feeling in the wake of Tuesday’s vote continued as more protesters took to the streets across the United States to demonstrate against Mr Trump’s election.
Portland police were also investigating a report of a shooting and a possible injury on a Willamette River bridge which protesters had been heading towards.
Police fired tear gas and hurled flash grenades in response to protests in Portland, Oregon, with “burning projectiles” reportedly thrown.
On Friday hundreds of people marched through the city, disrupting traffic and spray-painting graffiti.
Authorities said vandalism and assault had taken place during the demonstration. In other parts of the country spirited demonstrations on college campuses and peaceful marches along city streets have taken place since Wednesday.
Hundreds of people also joined a Friday afternoon “love rally” in Washington Square Park in Manhattan. Evening marches also disrupted traffic in Miami and Atlanta.
More than 1,000 protesters took to the streets across California after night fell including in Los Angeles, where more than 200 were arrested a night earlier.
In Bakersfield, where Mr Trump is far more popular than in the rest of the state, some held signs reading “Anti-Trump, Pro-USA”.
Small protests also were held in Detroit, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Missouri, Olympia, Washington and Iowa City. Demonstrations were planned yesterday in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and other areas.
Meanwhile, the president of the European Commission warned Mr Trump’s election poses risks to intercontinental relations.
Speaking to students at a conference in Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker said: “I think that we’ll waste time for two years while Mr Trump tours a world that he is completely unaware of.”
Mr Juncker also acknowledged the differences between Mr Trump’s approach to issues of refugees compared with the EU.
During the US election campaign, Mr Trump called into question the Nato alliance and was a vocal critic of EU open border migration policies.
Prime Minister Theresa May was yesterday warned by a leading German politician that she was “delusional” if she believed she could get a good trade deal from Mr Trump.
A senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Social Democrat coalition partner, Axel Schafer, said the PM’s hope that President-elect Trump will look favourably on the UK will come to nothing.
Referring to the shock election of Mr Trump, Mr Schafer told The Times: “What changed is the likelihood of a speedy and preferential trade deal between UK and US.
“Even before Tuesday the chances were rather low, now the hope for this kind of deal seems delusional.”