It’s Not Just Mike Johnson – Donald Trump Wants to “Terminate” the ACA

In case anyone forgot: here’s a reminder of Donald Trump’s plans to repeal and undermine the Affordable Care Act and its protections for millions of Americans with preexisting conditions — in his own unhinged rants words and actions:

Donald Trump: “The problem with Obamacare, it’s not good. We’d like to terminate it.” 

[…]

Savannah Guthrie, NBC News: “In point of fact, your administration is about to go to the Supreme Court to argue to throw out the rest of Obamacare, which includes the protections for preexisting conditions.”

Trump: “That’s right. That’s right.”

Guthrie: “So your administration is in court right now, trying to get rid of that protection.”

[…]

Trump: “Look, look. We should be on the same side. I want it very simple. I’m going to put it very simple. We would like to terminate it.”

Linsey Davis, ABC News: “President Trump, you have long vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.” …

Trump: “If we come up with something… we’re going to do it and we’re going to replace it.” …

Davis: “You still do not have a plan?”

Trump: “I have concepts of a plan.”

Mediaite: “‘OBAMACARE SUCKS!!!’ Trump Rants About New Plan — Years After He Promised It Was ‘Two Weeks’ Away”

Trump: “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alternatives. We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!”

Trump: “Obamacare is a disaster. And I said, ‘We’re gonna do something about it.’”

Trump: “And I’ve said from day one, the best thing I could do is let ObamaCare die and then come in with a plan.”

New York Times: “In the interview, Mr. Trump tells Ms. Stahl that he wants the Supreme Court to abolish the Affordable Care Act, saying: ‘I hope that they end it; it’ll be so good if they end it.’”

Trump: “ObamaCare is a broken mess. Piece by piece we will now begin the process of giving America the great HealthCare it deserves!”

Trump: “And what we’d like to do is totally kill it, but come up– before we do that — with something that’s great. What we’ve done is we’ve really managed Obamacare– the remaining portion — we got rid of the bad part, but the remaining portion– really well. And you know, before I got involved, you know what was happening with the rates and Obamacare: They were going up at levels that nobody has ever seen before. We are managing it.”

Trump: “These are the greatest people. We’re either gonna have a great plan or I’m not signing it. And I’ve said from day one, the best thing I could do is let ObamaCare die and then come in with a plan.”

Trump: “When I was elected, I inherited a thing called ‘Obamacare.’ Has anybody heard of Obamacare? It was terrible. That’s the way I feel, too.”

NBC News: “Trump approved a surprise decision to push for the complete elimination of the Affordable Care Act in the courts. If it succeeds, millions of Americans will lose their private insurance or Medicaid coverage and the health care system would be thrown into chaos.”

CNN: “Trump slashes funding that helps people sign up for Obamacare”

NBC News: “Affirming its disdain for ‘Obamacare,’ the Trump administration on Thursday announced sharp cuts in programs promoting health care enrollment under the Affordable Care Act for next year.”

Trump: “I’d rather see repeal and replace because I — I can do either way. If you remember, it was — you know, it was an idea that I had very early on, repeal. Trouble with repeal is you’ll have millions of people out there that — well, it’s like we just got the highest confidence in many years; you know, people out there that will say, well, you know, how do we know we’re going to have health care? And I hate to do that to people.” 

Trump: “I think we are going to do O.K. I think we are going to see. I mean, one of my ideas was repeal. But I certainly rather would get repeal and replace, because the next last thing I want to do is start working tomorrow morning on replace. And it is time. It is tough. It’s a very narrow path, winding this way. You think you have it, and then you lose four on the other side because you gave. It is a brutal process. And it was for Democrats, in all fairness.” 

Trump: “And we have, of course, the individual mandate, which is a very unfair and very unpopular provision, as you know, in Obamacare. Essentially, I think it ultimately leads to the end of Obamacare. Essentially, I think Obamacare is over because of that, and we’re going to come up with something that’s really going to be very good.

New York Times: “President-elect Donald J. Trump demanded on Tuesday that Congress immediately repeal the Affordable Care Act and pass another health law quickly. His remarks put Republicans in the nearly impossible position of having only weeks to replace a health law that took nearly two years to pass.”

New York Times: “The Trump administration said Saturday that it was suspending a program that pays billions of dollars to insurers to stabilize health insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act, a freeze that could increase uncertainty in the markets and drive up premiums this fall.”