White House Conducts Press Briefing, May 3
It's especially important that we continue to make progress on repealing and replacing Obamacare, as rates skyrocket and insurers keep fleeing the market around the country in anticipation of this impending implosion.
Earlier this week,
With reports like these seemingly coming every day, it couldn't be clearer that it's time for action on healthcare. We're glad that so many members are with us, and look forward to welcoming even more on board.
Also, earlier today, the President dropped by an event focusing on school choice that was hosted by the Vice President and Secretary DeVos with students ranging from kindergarten to high school. Most of the students who visited the
The
And this program gets results. Last year, 69 percent of D.C. public school students graduated from high school. That's compared to an incredible 98 percent of the D.C. scholarship students who received their high school diplomas last year. Funding for the Opportunity Scholarship was one of our priorities during these budget negotiations, and the Trump administration is glad to have ensured that the program's extension was taken care of through this appropriations bill, on top of the increases in military spending and funding for border security.
Today, the President welcomed the President of the
The two leaders made their own statements just a little bit ago. But to give you a few additional details, some of the topics that were discussed during their meeting and the lunch were: advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace; preventing incitements to violence, particularly media outlets directly associated with the
Later this evening, the President, along with the Vice President and
Later tonight, the Vice President will also deliver a keynote address at the Susan B. Anthony List 2017
And with that, I'll take your questions. Ken.
Q Sean, on healthcare, does the President feel like we've reached an inflection point here with the House? Is this a make-or-break moment in terms of getting the bill through the House? And what precisely is the President doing, and what arguments is he making to members on why they should support this bill?
Q Is this a "now or never" kind of moment, though, with the bill?
Q Yesterday, the President tweeted that FBI Director
Q On healthcare, the President appears to be directly involved behind the scenes. How much responsibility does the President plan to take for the outcome of the vote if it does occur this week?
Q Sean, there was a report in
Q But you can't deny that the executive order -- the President is a friend of the LGBT community. Isn't that a law?
Q How can the President be a friend of the LGBT community if the President is considering this executive order?
Q Thanks, Sean. I want to get the reaction to former
But I think, most importantly -- and I think at the end of
We're making sure right now -- we've talked about this endlessly over the last month or so -- but we've got a healthcare system that's not doing what it's supposed to. It's failing. It's costing people too much. It's giving people a card, not coverage. And what the President is trying to do by working with these members of
Q And I'll ask you about what
Q "Speak or conceal" -- did he make the correct decision?
Eamon.
Q Thanks, Sean. There's been a lot of focus recently on
Because I think she can use her voice to help bring attention to issues. She can use her resources and knowledge of individuals to help break down some barriers that young women, older women face in education and business. That's where she has always had her passion. That's what she's working on now.
Q But what specifically are her responsibilities here? For example, The New York Times reported this morning that she has a weekly meeting with the Treasury Secretary. What's that meeting for?
But of course, I mean, part of that is to have conversations with people in government and figure out what programs exist, where we can help additional folks using government, or fix a government program that might be not properly being utilized. But there's a lot of that.
Matt.
Q Thank, Sean. Back to healthcare. An analysis from
Q But --
If someone chose not to have coverage for 63 days or more, and they were in a state that opted out, and they had a preexisting condition, and they were put into a high-risk pool, then we've allocated an additional
So for someone to know how many people that is, what number of states are going to receive a waiver -- ask for it, and receive a waiver is literally impossible at this point. So to do an analysis of any level of factual basis would be literally not --
Q Two follow-up questions. One, would the President prefer -- does he have a preference as to whether or not states opt out, given that option? And two, yes or no, will people with preexisting conditions pay higher premiums under this bill than they currently do?
So if you have continuous coverage, if you live in a state, it'll never, ever be a factor. But the President has worked to make sure that in every single scenario -- anybody, everybody -- he has kept true to his word that preexisting conditions are covered and that the cost curve continues to bend down.
Q And then on the other question, the congressman, this morning, from
Cecilia.
Q Thank you. I want to go back to Director Comey on the Hill today, and some things he said about
Q Is that different than the
Q And in that particular one, does then he accept that assessment from the FBI?
Q Okay, and just one more thing on that front. He called
Alexis.
Q Sean, I have two healthcare questions. Can I follow up on what you were saying about the President's conversation with
Because at the end of the day -- look, the President has talked about this from the beginning, that he wants to work with members to make it the strongest possible bill, to have the strongest outcome for the American people, and a healthcare system in which both the cost continue to go down. And I think that's one point, Alexis, that we keep forgetting in this discussion with what we're trying to do. It's not just replace Obamacare. Obamacare is dying on the vine. The costs are spiraling out of control, deductibles are going up, and carriers -- again, this isn't a theoretical discussion.
So this isn't a question of just replacing something. We are actually at a point where if we don't do something, some people in this country will have no options for coverage. We've got to do something, and that's where the President has been willing to work with members, pick up the phone, and figure out how do we get this done to make sure that every American has got the coverage that they need.
Q I want to also ask about the next step. There are members of the House who are concerned on the Republican side that they could vote for something that will change dramatically in the
Q Would be adopted by the
But for right now -- and in a perfect world, they would just take it straight up and we would go. But I have a feeling the
John.
Q Thanks a lot, Sean. Chairman Upton and
Q Sean, on timing, I've heard different things from the President over the course of the past two weeks. At one point I heard the President say he wants the bill to be taken up now; other times, it's not important, just get the bill right. What's your view? Is it very important, as far as the administration is concerned, that this vote take place sooner rather than later?
Mike.
Q I want to revisit the President's comments in his tweets about the omnibus spending bill. He campaigned on his business record, on his ability to make good deals, make better deals than politicians in the past have. Does the President view the spending bill as a good deal?
Kristen.
Q Sean, can you say definitively that no one with a preexisting condition will pay more under the amendment?
Q Can you guarantee it?
So the answer is, yes, that we have done every single thing possible to get that down and to ensure that, number one, that that potential is as small as possible. Because the bill covers people with preexisting conditions, number one. Number two, it does everything to ensure that if a state seeks a waiver that they are still covered. But it looks at every single possibility to ensure that people get the care that they need.
Q Is there a concern -- you criticized former
Q Does he expect to see a vote this week?
John.
Q Sean, it looks like we're on the precipice of a vote on the omnibus spending bill. Senator
I think when you -- and Director Mulvaney laid this out yesterday -- when you look at what the President came forward with a month or so ago and said these are my priorities, he got what he asked for. And I think that's big. So this is a -- the President feels very good about what he got.
And again, I think it's important to underscore two points. Number one, in the
The other thing that's important to understand is that this is just the final five months of FY18 [FY17]. Any President coming into office wouldn't get the first shot at a budget until the end of September of the year after they got elected. So, in theory, he got to push for his priorities -- military spending, border security, D.C. schools -- all the things I mentioned right out of the gate. And for the last five months of this fiscal year, something that should have happened during the Obama administration, he got his priorities -- a down payment on them.
Q Quick second topic, if I could. This is at least the fourth
You've got an individual in
Q Can I follow up on John's question?
Q In January, the President did an interview deriding the "little toy walls" along the southern border -- that's a quote -- and said, I don't know why they're even wasting their time. Why is the government focused so much on existing border security measures rather than fighting for the wall that he promised that he would build?
Q Did you guys coordinate?
According to a GA report from earlier this year, from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2015, the Customs and
Now, to the next slide. (Laughter.) You had no idea you were getting this, did you?
So the bill that is about to get passed, Title 6 -- which pertains to the
Q So --
Q Just one question about the photos. Are those photos of fences or walls?
Q So that's the wall the President promised?
Q What's that?
Q So that's not a wall, it's a levy wall?
Q He's building fencing, not a wall.
Q But it's not the wall the President promised?
And as I mentioned to
To answer the question, it is currently being built in
Q So you're basically just telling supporters, the President's supporters, to be satisfied with this existing tough-guy fencing until he's ready to build the wall?
Q Mahmoud Abbas stood next to the President today and said he wants to see
Q On the Palestinian --
QHe doesn't object to what
Q (Inaudible.) That's why I'm asking.
Jim.
Q Just to follow up on the President's meeting with Abbas, he did say at one point, "Frankly," talking about
And I think that he, in discussions with them, in private discussions with them, feels very optimistic about the shared goal that everybody has. Obviously, there's a lot of issues that have to get covered, but the President understands that they respect his ability to want to get this done -- his relationships and respect that have been developed.
And I think this is something that he really wants to have happen.
Q And getting back to healthcare, why even monkey around with preexisting conditions? That's the most popular thing in Obamacare. Why are you guys spinning your wheels messing around with preexisting conditions?
Q Right now, people with preexisting conditions are covered. They're not discriminated against.
Q You're going to change to a system where who the hell knows what's going to happen. It depends on what state they live in. If they live in this state over here, that governor may seek a waiver and all of a sudden they're thrown into this system where hopefully that fund is going to cover their preexisting conditions. It is a big change for people who live with those kinds of illnesses, is it not?
And we just read it out. I mean, I don't -- if you have --
Q So you're not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Q Repeal Obamacare because you're saying it's not working, but then why change preexisting conditions?
Q Is it strengthening it if --
Q -- a governor can say, here's my waiver and no more preexisting conditions?
Q Why not fix that?
Q Why does the preexisting condition component have to be altered? Why not just keep that protection in place?
Q So anybody who has a preexisting condition under Trumpcare, they're going to be fine, without question?
Q Thank you, Sean. I want to follow up on healthcare. I just want to know why the
Zeke.
Q Thanks, Sean. Two questions for you; one following on
Q And so then the
Q And then to just follow up on something that Director Mulvaney said yesterday regarding the President's tweet about calling for a "good shutdown" potentially in September. He said the reason the President sent that tweet was he was frustrated by
There are various things that the President is trying to do that are -- issues when he's having conversations with members of the
Sarah.
Q Thanks, Sean. So you've cited the 60-vote threshold as a reason why funding for the wall wasn't pursued in this spending bill, but what's going to be different in September? I mean, presumably the legislative conditions would be the same, so what will change between now and September to give you confidence that we'll get funding for the border wall then?
This bill will reflect in 2018 the President's priorities in working with a
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