WASHINGTON_President Donald Trump stepped up his threats to cut a deal with Democrats on health care if conservatives in the House won't back his proposals.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said that despite the recent collapse of the Republican health care bill, negotiations were continuing among party leaders on a new bill.
The stumbling block, Trump suggested, was the House Freedom Caucus, the conservative group that Trump has blamed for the failure last month of the Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act.
He said he hoped Republicans would unite behind a new plan.
But "if we don't get what we want, we will make a deal with the Democrats," he said. If that happens, "we will have in my opinion not as good a form of healthcare, but we are going to have a very good form of health care, and it will be a bipartisan form of health care."
Last week, Trump threatened to back primary challengers to some Freedom Caucus members in 2018 if they don't support his program.
