--- title: Donald Trump: Obamacare has 'Wreaked Havoc' On Americans description: One day before the Senate votes whether to begin debate on repealing the Affordable Care Act, President Trump called the 2010 law "death." canonical: https://time.com/4871630/donald-trump-repeal-replace-obamacare/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-24T21:06:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:42:28.242Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Says Obamacare Has 'Wreaked Havoc' on Americans og:description: He called the law "big, fat, ugly lie." og:url: https://time.com/4871630/donald-trump-repeal-replace-obamacare/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede5972170ea4571/6988d6e9196cf438a2041275/donald-trump-senate-health-care-vote.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Donald Trump presents a demonstration of a pharmaceutical glass packaging initiative, in Washington, DC. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Says Obamacare Has 'Wreaked Havoc' on Americans twitter:description: He called the law "big, fat, ugly lie." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede5972170ea4571/6988d6e9196cf438a2041275/donald-trump-senate-health-care-vote.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Says Obamacare Has 'Wreaked Havoc' on Americans > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### 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 [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 24, 2017 9:06 PM UTC  President Donald Trump looks at the press during a demonstration of a pharmaceutical glass packaging initiative on July, 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump looks at the press during a demonstration of a pharmaceutical glass packaging initiative on July, 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. Bill O'Leary—The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 24, 2017 9:06 PM UTC One day before the Senate votes whether to begin debate on repealing the Affordable Care Act, President Trump called the 2010 law “death” and a “nightmare” that has wreaked havoc on the lives of Americans. Speaking from the Blue Room in the White House Monday, Trump argued that Republicans who fail to support the motion to proceed on repealing the health care law will be supporting the existing law in essence. “The question for every Senator, Democrat or Republican, is whether they will side with Obamacare’s architects, which have been so destructive to our country, or with its forgotten victims,” he said. “Any Senator who votes against starting debate is telling America that you are fine with the Obamacare nightmare.” Trump seemed to have an endless supply of insults for the Affordable Care Act and the promise of reforming the healthcare system, which he called a “big, fat, ugly lie.” He labeled Democrats “obstructionists” for not supporting legislation to overturn the Affordable Care Act, though Republicans have the majority in both chambers and need just 50 votes to pass the bill. The Senate is [poised to vote on repeal and replace](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/07/24/senate-republicans-obamacare-repeal-vote/504698001/) legislation this week, though it is not exactly clear which version of the bill will be up for a vote. The Senate effort is facing an uphill battle regardless, given some Republicans feelings on the bill who are wary about some of the bills’ proposals. President Trump, however, intensified the pressure he has been adding to the healthcare debate via Twitter during his fiery speech on Monday afternoon. “The American people have waited long enough. There has been enough talk and no action. Now is the time for action,” he said. “Obamacare has broken our healthcare system. It’s broken. It’s gone.” President Trump issued a warning to Republicans on Twitter on Sunday, saying the “repercussions will be far greater than any of them understand” if the GOP does not repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/889474780356915206) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/889274373689028609) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/889217183930351621) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4871630/donald-trump-repeal-replace-obamacare/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4871630/donald-trump-repeal-replace-obamacare/"},"headline":"President Trump Says Obamacare Has 'Wreaked Havoc' on Americans","datePublished":"2017-07-24T21:06:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:42:28.242Z","description":"One day before the Senate votes whether to begin debate on repealing the Affordable Care Act, President Trump called the 2010 law \"death.\"","url":"https://time.com/4871630/donald-trump-repeal-replace-obamacare/","keywords":["White House","Obamacare","Affordable Care Act","Healthcare","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede5972170ea4571/6988d6e9196cf438a2041275/donald-trump-senate-health-care-vote.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede5972170ea4571/6988d6e9196cf438a2041275/donald-trump-senate-health-care-vote.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Donald Trump presents a demonstration of a pharmaceutical glass packaging initiative, in Washington, DC.","caption":"President Donald Trump presents a demonstration of a pharmaceutical glass packaging initiative, in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Bill O'Leary—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4871630/donald-trump-repeal-replace-obamacare/","name":"President Trump Says Obamacare Has 'Wreaked Havoc' on Americans"}}]}] ```