Oh my God, Trump fucked up. He will regret taking Paul Ryan's advice today but once, and that is for the duration of his presidency. Trump should have relied on his first instinct for accountability and revenge.
WASHINGTON — When Speaker Paul D. Ryan arrived at the White House on Friday to inform President Trump that the health care bill he had made his first major legislative push could not pass, Mr. Trump had one reaction: He wanted revenge.
Furious at rebellious Republicans who refused to back the measure, Mr. Trump demanded that defectors cast “no” votes for all to see — even if it meant the measure’s high-profile defeat, broadcast live on television.
But over a lunch of chicken, brussels sprouts and twice-baked potatoes in the Oval Office, Mr. Ryan pleaded with Mr. Trump to reconsider.
A loss could do lasting political damage to Republicans who supported the contentious bill, Mr. Ryan argued, especially those in competitive districts who were vulnerable to primary challenges. It would do nothing to isolate or punish the Freedom Caucus, the conservative faction that had resisted the measure all along, he added.
And it could alienate rank-and-file Republicans needed to push through other challenging initiatives in the weeks to come, including an increase in the debt ceiling, a sweeping tax cut and the president’s promised $1 trillion infrastructure package.
Mr. Trump remained unconvinced, but by midafternoon, armed with vote counts showing that the measure lacked a majority to pass, the president called the speaker to agree: You should pull the bill.
With repeal and replace now a hollow vow, Mr. Trump’s anger at the defiant members of the Freedom Caucus was undiminished. But trying to put the best possible face on a major defeat late Friday afternoon, he confined his public criticism to Democrats.
The meeting with the Freedom Caucus had prompted a realization by Mr. Trump and his inner circle about how the group operated, and that offering them policy concessions would not win their support.
By Friday, Mr. Trump was out for blood, eager to call the bluff of the Freedom Caucus and savage them if the health bill went down in defeat. Mr. Bannon and Marc Short, Mr. Trump’s legislative affairs director, both favored holding the vote.
But Mr. Ryan, reluctant to suffer an embarrassing loss or to ask his fellow Republicans to take what could be a politically perilous vote on a measure that had little chance of passing, argued vigorously against it.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/us/politics/trump-white-house-health-care.html?_r=0&referer=https://news.google.com/
