‘The closer’? The inside story of how Trump tried — and failed — to make a deal on health care

President Trump promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act “immediately” and “on Day 1” while on the campaign trail. But now, he claims he never said he'd get health care reform done quickly. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

By Robert Costa, Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker March 24 at 9:19 PM

Shortly after House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) unveiled the Republican health-care plan on March 6, President Trump sat in the Oval Office and queried his advisers: “Is this really a good bill?”

And over the next 18 days, until the bill collapsed in the House on Friday afternoon in a humiliating defeat — the sharpest rebuke yet of Trump’s young presidency and his negotiating skills — the question continued to nag at the president.

President Trump visits the Capitol Building on Tuesday to talk with House Republicans. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)----President Trump in the cab of an eighteen-wheeler truck while meeting with truckers and chief executives Thursday. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, after a meeting about the Affordable Care Act on Thursday. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)---Vice President Pence, left, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price leave a meeting with members of the House Freedom Caucus on Friday. (Oliver Contreras/For The Washington Post)

‘The closer’ The inside story of how Trump tried — and failed — to make a deal on health care.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd