WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump's first public reaction to the Senate's draft health care bill was to call it the starting point for more discussion.
"A little negotiation, but it's going to be very good," the president told reporters at an unrelated White House event in the East Room on Thursday, when asked if it had "enough heart."
Trump said at a rally in Iowa Wednesday night that he wanted a "plan with heart." To that end, he said he'd encouraged congressional Republicans to "add some money to it," without specifying the purpose of such spending or the amount.
The president remained noncommittal about supporting the Senate's newly unveiled draft, which is broadly similar to a House-passed measure that he has privately called "mean." He said only that the issue was still "percolating."
Both versions would result in millions of Americans losing insurance coverage.
"We'd love to have some Democrats' support but they're obstructionists," Trump said. Democrats are united in opposing the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which they considered one of their signature achievements of the Obama years.
White House officials have said the president's legislative affairs team is "working hand-in-glove" with congressional Republicans, and that the president had been fully briefed about the evolving details this week.
