--- title: Donald Trump Discusses 'Mean' Senate Health Bill description: President Trump described the Republican health care bill as "mean," but that won't change his support of the bill, which he expects to pass canonical: https://time.com/4832054/trump-health-care-bill-senate-support/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-25T14:10:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T06:28:31.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Thinks the Health Care Bill Is 'Mean' og:description: But he still supports it og:url: https://time.com/4832054/trump-health-care-bill-senate-support/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40f3eb26ed804158/6988d33f096a9408f169e83f/trump-health-care.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump Gives Statement On Healthcare At General Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Thinks the Health Care Bill Is 'Mean' twitter:description: But he still supports it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40f3eb26ed804158/6988d33f096a9408f169e83f/trump-health-care.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Thinks the Health Care Bill Is 'Mean.' But He Still Supports It > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=752c4dde-6279-4b55-9fa7-abe1dae45a7c&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Senator Chuck Schumer Responds to GOP Health Care Plan [Watch (HLS stream): Senator Chuck Schumer Responds to GOP Health Care Plan](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QeiVzBMf.m3u8) (0:56)  _Published 2017-06-22. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responds to the reveal of the Republican senators' health care plan._  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:28 AM UTCPublished: Jun 25, 2017 2:10 PM UTC When something goes wrong, Donald Trump knows who to blame: Democrats. Though Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, Trump has pinned the blame for a number of problems onto congressional Democrats.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:28 AM UTCPublished: Jun 25, 2017 2:10 PM UTC [President Donald Trump](http://www.thedrive.com/news/11769/video-shows-president-donald-trump-driving-golf-cart-on-green) confirmed Sunday that he had characterized the House’s version of the Obamacare repeal bill as “mean,” but gave no indication that will lessen his support of the legislation. Trump made the admission during a Fox News interview when he fielded a question about former President Barack Obama’s [response to the recently unveiled Senate version of the bill.](http://time.com/4829343/barack-obama-senate-healthcare-bill/) Obama insisted that “small tweaks over the course of the next couple weeks, under the guise of making these bills easier to stomach, cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.” “He used my term, mean. That was my term because I want to see – and I speak from the heart, that’s what I want to see. I want to see a bill with heart,” Trump told Fox News’ Pete Hegseth. Earlier this month, CNN reported that Trump had [called the House bill “mean”](http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/13/politics/trump-senators-health-care-white-house-meeting/index.html) in a luncheon with Republican senators, saying it did not provide enough protection for individuals. House Speaker Paul Ryan [downplayed Trump’s response,](http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/06/20/paul-ryan-obamacare-repeal-replace-trump-american-health-care-act) telling Fox News it was “some kind of a misinterpretation of a private meeting.” The Congressional Budget Office, which offers non-partisan analysis, estimated that under the House version of the health care bill,[ 23 million fewer Americans](http://time.com/4793159/health-care-bill-cbo-score-republicans/?iid=sr-link6) would have health insurance by 2026, largely due to shrinking Medicaid eligibility. The CBO is slated to release its analysis of the Senate bill this coming week. But, like the House version, the Senate’s bill also aims to phase out the portion of Obamacare that provides federal funding for states to expand medicaid. A month before he officially launched his bid for president, Trump tweeted that he [would not touch the Medicaid program.](http://time.com/4828769/health-care-bill-medicaid-trump-cuts/?iid=sr-link1) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/596338364187602944) But in his interview on Sunday, Trump seemed confident in the contents of the Senate’s bill, as well as its passage. Still, he predicted some changes to placate the senators who are currently not supporting the legislation. “We have a very good plan,” he said. “We have a few people that are – I think you could say modestly – they’re not standing on the rooftops and screaming. They want to get some points, I think they’ll get some points.” **Correction:** The original version of this story misstated which health care bill President Trump confirmed he had described as “mean.” It was the House bill, not the Senate bill. ## Transcript [00:00] This is a bill designed to strip away health care [00:02] benefits and protections from Americans who need it [00:05] most in order to give a tax break to the folks [00:10] who need it least. Simply put, this bill will result [00:14] in higher costs, less care, and millions of [00:18] Americans will lose their health insurance. Particularly [00:22] through Medicade. Its every bid is bad as the house [00:25] bill, in some ways its even worse, the [00:29] president said the senate bill needed heart, the way [00:33] this bill cuts healthcare is heartless. The president [00:37] said, the senate bill needed heart The way this bill cuts [00:41] healthcare is heartless. The president said the [00:45] house bill was mean. The senate bill may [00:50] be meaner. The senate republican healthcare [00:54] bill is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Only this [00:58] wolf has even sharper teeth than the House bill. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4832054/trump-health-care-bill-senate-support/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4832054/trump-health-care-bill-senate-support/"},"headline":"President Trump Thinks the Health Care Bill Is 'Mean.' 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