After defeat of GOP bill, Donald Trump’s hope is that ObamaCare will “explode”


Developments on Day 64 of the Trump Administration:

Fallout from GOP Withdrawal of Healthcare Bill

Donald Trump tries to cope with the sudden withdrawal of the GOP bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

Despite days of intense lobbying by the President and his aides, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan pulled the legislation just before the scheduled vote.

Trump officials said the President asked Ryan to withdraw the American Health Care Act in their meeting at the White House about 3 pm. But Ryan said in a press conference that the pullback was his decision.

The GOP leadership had expected an easy passage through the House of Representatives when they introduced the AHCA last month, with a tougher challenge anticipated in the Senate, where the Republicans have only a 52-48 majority.

But the GOP’s 43-seat advantage in the House was eroded by the demand of many conservatives, through the Freedom Caucus, for tougher measures to bury ObamaCare. The Trump Administration compromised on Thursday, stripping provision of maternity care, emergency services, and mental health and well-being programs from the AHCA — but that only alienated moderates already worried about an estimated 18 million Americans losing coverage next year and about 25 million by 2026.

After the withdrawal, Trump did not take any responsibility, but put his faith in the collapse of the healthcare system, saying he would let ObamaCare “explode”: “I think the losers are [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi and [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer because now they own Obamacare. 100% own it.”

The President played down his personal lobbying — and a Wednesday warning to any GOP opposition that he was prepared for them to carry the burden of failure — saying he was a mere “team player”. Meanwhile, his staff turned their fire on Ryan.

“This was all Ryan and [Health Secretary Tom] Price,” said one senior administration official. “They agreed upon this plan the day (Trump) hired Price.”

Trump signalled that he would try to regain the initiative with his proposal for tax reform. Previously, the President said any proposal would have to await the passage of the GOP’s healthcare plans.

Report: Trump Advisor Flynn Discussed Extra-Legal Extradition of Turkish Cleric Gulen

Michael Flynn, the National Security Advisor for the first 24 days of the Trump Administration, reportedly discussed ways to move Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen from the US to Ankara without going through the legal extradition process.

The conversation for the rendition took place with Turkish officials on September 19, as Flynn worked as an unpaid advisor to the Trump campaign, according to The Wall Street Journal. Among those in the meeting was the son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Erdoğan has considered Gulen, self-exiled at a Pennsylvania farm, as a bitter enemy since the two men split in 2013. The Turkish Government has detained accused Gulenists and purged thousands of people from the military and public service following a July 2016 coup attempt, blamed on the cleric by Erdoğan.

James Woolsey, a CIA Director during the Clinton Administration, said one plan was “a covert step in the dead of night to whisk this guy away”. He said he had walked into the middle of the conversation and “found the topic startling and the actions being discussed possibly illegal”.

A spokesman for Flynn responded on Friday:

The claim made by Mr. Woolsey that General Flynn, or anyone else in attendance, discussed physical removal of Mr. Gulen from the United States during a meeting with Turkish officials in New York is false. No such discussion occurred. Nor did Mr. Woolsey ever inform General Flynn that he had any concerns whatsoever regarding the meeting, either before he chose to attend, or afterwards.

Earlier this month, Flynn filed paperwork with the Justice Department revealing his work as an agent for the Turkish Government from August through mid-November 2016. The Flynn Intel Group received $530,000 from a Dutch consulting firm run by a Turkish businessman until the consultancy shut down in November.

Flynn was dismissed as National Security Advisor in February after revelations of his telephone conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak on December 29, the day President Obama imposed additional sanctions on Moscow because of Russia’s interference in the US elections.

Trump Approves Keystone Pipeline

Donald Trump approves the Keystone XL pipeline, completing the reversal of President Obama’s rejection of the project.

The Trump Administration had indicated its course of action within days of taking office, with executive orders endorsing the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines despite concerns about environmental damage and contribution to emissions linked to global warming.

TransCanada Corp still needs to win financing, acquire local permits, and fend off legal challenges for the pipeline to be built.

Trump claims the project will create 28,000 jobs in the US, even though a 2014 State Department study predicted just 3,900 construction employees and 35 permanent jobs.