--- title: Donald Trump Expected a Health Care Bill As Soon As He Won description: President Donald Trump says that he expected a health care bill to be waiting on his desk upon arriving to the White House canonical: https://time.com/4950796/donald-trump-health-care-bill-graham-cassidy/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-20T22:23:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:31:32.236Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Expected a Health Care Bill on His Desk As Soon as He Got Into Office og:description: The President thinks the revised GOP bill has "a very good chance" of passing og:url: https://time.com/4950796/donald-trump-health-care-bill-graham-cassidy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d3c2e3fba06d38/6988dea7e76ad20ddf62f3dc/donald-trump-un-health-care.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4500 og:image:height: 2531 og:image:alt: US-EGYPT-DIPLOMACY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Expected a Health Care Bill on His Desk As Soon as He Got Into Office twitter:description: The President thinks the revised GOP bill has "a very good chance" of passing twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d3c2e3fba06d38/6988dea7e76ad20ddf62f3dc/donald-trump-un-health-care.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Says He Expected a Health Care Bill on His Desk As Soon as He Got Into Office > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Sep 20, 2017 10:23 PM UTC  US President Donald Trump speaks before a meeting with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the Palace Hotel during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly September 20, 2017 in New York City. US President Donald Trump speaks before a meeting with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the Palace Hotel during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly September 20, 2017 in New York City. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI—AFP/Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Sep 20, 2017 10:23 PM UTC [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4949877/donald-trump-emmanuel-macron-united-nations/) says that he expected a health care bill to be waiting on his desk upon arriving to the White House for the first time in office. “I thought that when I won I would go to the Oval Office, sit down at my desk, and there would be a health care bill on my desk, to be honest,” Trump told reporters in New York City Wednesday, [according to Reuters. ](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-trump/trump-says-latest-obamacare-repeal-plan-has-very-good-chance-idUSKCN1BV2Z3?il=0) “And it hasn’t worked out that way,” Trump added. “And I think a lot of Republicans are embarrassed by it.” Trump was talking up the latest iteration of the Republican health care bill, which he said has “a very good chance” of passing in the Senate. “I think there’s tremendous support for it. I think it’s actually much better than the previous shot,” Trump said of the legislation intended to repeal and replace Obamacare. “We think this has a very good chance. At some point the Senate is going to be forced to make a deal. They’re just about at that point right now.” Wednesday’s remarks are not the first time Trump’s understanding of health care policy did not live up to his expectations. At a bipartisan governors meeting in February, [he said that](http://time.com/4684068/donald-trump-health-care-reform-complicated/) “nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.” “I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject,” the President remarked at the time. The GOP’s revised health care plan, dubbed the [“Graham-Cassidy” bill](http://time.com/4944913/jeb-bush-the-graham-cassidy-proposal-is-better-than-kasich-hickenlooper/) after two of its authors, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), has a Sept. 30 deadline to vote. 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