Republicans wonder whether Trump's heart was in healthcare fight
White House officials have insisted that Trump wanted the win, but some in his party say that in the run up to the vote, his mind seemed to be elsewhere.
By ANNIE KARNI 03/25/17 03:36 PM EDT
While President Donald Trump’s first major legislative push hurtled toward a major defeat, one of his top advisers, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, was photographed with his wife, Ivanka Trump, on a ski gondola in Aspen.
Kushner may not have been the lead White House negotiator on the doomed healthcare bill. But the image of Trump’s top consigliere hitting the slopes at perhaps the most critical moment of his young presidency sent a message loud and clear: The White House wanted a win, but health care was not the dominant priority for Trump that it was for the Republican members of Congress who actually had to take a vote.
"Their heart was not in the healthcare battle,” said a top Republican who was in meetings with the president and his team but declined to be identified because those conversations were supposed to be private. “Think about the level of intensity on the executive orders for the travel ban, or on the wiretapping claims. He certainly checked the boxes on healthcare, to his credit. But it's self-evident there was not a certain level of intensity devoted to this."
White House officials have insisted that Trump understood that a legislative victory was crucial at this stage of his administration -- he is struggling to boost a 42.2 percent approval rating according to FiveThirtyEight.com, the lowest of his presidency so far -- and that he was lending the full force of his office to the cause.
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http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-health-care-law-republicans-236502
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