Trump "disappointed and a little surprised" by failure of health law
US President Donald Trump said Friday he was "disappointed" and "a little surprised" after the failure of his bill on health in Congress, judging that it was "very close" to be adopted.
"I'm disappointed ... I'm a little surprised to be honest," the president said from the Oval Office.
“We were very close, it played out very little,” he added, visibly touched by this scathing snub but keeping a very calm tone.
The majority of the House of Representatives shattered over the proposed repeal and replacement of Obamacare, a law signed in 2010 by Barack Obama. A vote, initially scheduled for Thursday and then postponed to Friday, was finally canceled a few minutes before.
The Republican president also reiterated his belief that Obamacare would collapse on its own. “It's imploding and going to explode soon and it's not going to be nice,” he said.
Does the real estate mogul, who came to power without any political experience, feel betrayed by those elected members of the Republican majority who did not follow him despite his repeated calls to vote for the law?
"I am not going to speak badly of anyone within the party", he replied, affirming to keep all his confidence in Paul Ryan, president of the House of Representatives.
“It was a very, very good law,” he insisted.
Asked how he intended to go about it now, he remained evasive about the health system but showed his willingness to initiate a vast tax reform soon.
"We will probably now turn to tax reform that we could have done earlier," he said, President Mike Pence and Minister of Health Tom Price at his side, faces closed.
Beginning of mandate marked by a series of failures
Here are the main failures of the Republican billionaire since his inauguration in the White House on January 20.
Obamacare reform withdrawn
Donald Trump had made the repeal of Obamacare one of his great campaign promises. But the US president suffered a resounding personal defeat in Congress on Friday, forced to withdraw his first major bill to reform the health insurance system.
Even though he often praises his negotiating skills, Donald Trump has failed to convince his comfortable Republican majority in Congress.
Migration decree blocked
Donald Trump's attempt to limit immigration from certain Muslim countries, another flagship promise of his campaign, was suspended by the courts a few days after its entry into force on January 27.
The federal judge in Seattle, James Robart, blocked on February 4, the application of the decree which prohibited the entry of the American territory to the nationals of seven Moslem countries (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and Sudan), as well as all refugees. The suspension was confirmed on appeal on February 9.
On March 15, an amended version of this decree, which notably excludes Iraq and holders of residence permits in the United States (green cards), was again blocked by a federal judge in Hawaii, Derrick Watson, who saw there “Significant and irrefutable evidence of religious animosity”.
Another federal judge in the state of Maryland suspended the application of the decree, citing the same reasons.
President Donald Trump's administration appealed the Maryland ruling and promised to go to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Resignation of Michael Flynn
Michael Flynn, President Trump's national security adviser, was pressured to resign on February 13 following revelations of inappropriate contacts with Russia.
He is accused of having lied about a meeting with the Russian ambassador to Washington Sergey Kislyak, during which he allegedly mentioned the US sanctions weighing on Russia, while Barack Obama was still in office.
Michael Flynn was one of the inspirers of Donald Trump's ideas on international issues during the campaign and is considered close to the US president.
Russian shadow
Besides the Flynn affair, Donald Trump's first steps in the White House are tarnished by suspicions of collusion between his entourage and Russian officials.
FBI Director James Comey confirmed on March 20 the existence of an investigation since July 2016 into a possible "coordination" between members of Donald Trump's campaign team and the Russian government.
Charges rejected by the White House and qualified as fake news by Donald Trump, but which haunt his presidency and damage his credibility.
The administration of Barack Obama had officially accused Moscow of having interfered in the American election, by leading a vast campaign of disinformation and by hacking the Democratic Party in order to harm Hillary Clinton and to help Donald Trump.
