Skip to main content
Tags: paul ryan | donald trump | democrats | bipartisanship | healthcare | reform

Ryan: I Don't Want Trump Working With Dems on Healthcare

(CBS News)

By    |   Thursday, 30 March 2017 07:14 AM EDT

House Speaker Paul Ryan is concerned that the Republican Party is pushing President Donald Trump into working with Democrats so he can fulfill his campaign promises to repeal and replace Obamacare, and he does not "want that to happen."

"I want a patient-centered system," Ryan told CBS News' Norah O'Donnell in an interview airing on "CBS This Morning" on Thursday, according to excerpts released about his appearance. "I don't want government running healthcare. The government shouldn't tell you what you must do with your life, with your healthcare. We should give people choices."

Ryan said he's worried that if Republicans don't do healthcare reform on their own, Trump will "just go work with Democrats to try and change Obamacare, and that's not, that's hardly a conservative thing."

"This is a can-do president, who is a business guy, who wants to get things done," Ryan told O'Donnell. "I know that he wants to get things done with a Republican Congress . . . I worry we'll push the president into working with Democrats."

Tuesday, while meeting with senators at a White House reception, Trump said that he expects that lawmakers will reach a deal "very quickly" on healthcare, as "we've all been promising — Democrat, Republican — we've all been promising that to the American people."

During that appearance, Trump also said he sees potential for working with Democrats on other issues, such as infrastructure.

"Hopefully it'll start being bipartisan," Trump said, "because everybody really wants the same thing: We want greatness for this country that we love."

After the American Health Care Act championed by Ryan was pulled from a House vote last week, Trump said that he believes Democrats will be willing to negotiate new legislation, as Obamacare will eventually "explode."

In Thursday's interview, Ryan also said the AHCA hasn't survived yet, but there is a "Plan B" in the works.

"Plan B is we keep talking to each other and figure out how we get to yes, and how we get this bill passed," Ryan said.

However, he acknowledged that Republicans are going through a "very painful growing pain."

"I'd like to see the growth at the end of that pain, which is we had been an opposition party for 10 years," Ryan said. "I've been long saying, if we're going to be successful, deliver for the American people, improve people's lives, we've got to become a proposition governing party.

"About 90 percent of our members are for this bill. We're not going to give up after seven years of dealing with this, after running on a plan all of last year, translating that plan into legislation, which is what this is."

But he denied that more pressure is being put on the bill's opponents, but instead its backers are "listening to people."

"If we can make improvements to this bill, all the better," Ryan said. "If improvements can be made to this legislation that get people to yes, that's great."

Ryan said he does not regret tackling healthcare first.

"We could not have done tax reform first, for a whole host of reasons," Ryan said. "We literally didn't have the time to write a tax bill yet."

The House, he continued, is the only one with a tax plan so far, as the White House and Senate are still working on theirs.

"It is inconceivable that we would've been able to write a tax reform bill — and into law before summer," Ryan said.

Sandy Fitzgerald

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.

Newsfront
House Speaker Paul Ryan is concerned that the Republican Party is pushing President Donald Trump into working with Democrats so he can fulfill his campaign promises to repeal and replace Obamacare, and he does not "want that to happen."
paul ryan, donald trump, democrats, bipartisanship, healthcare, reform
574
2017-14-30
Thursday, 30 March 2017 07:14 AM
Newsmax Media, Inc.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 

Interest-Based Advertising | Do not sell or share my personal information

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© 2025 Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Download the Newsmax App
NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© 2025 Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved