White House officials tell Mike Allen that President Trump is prepared to use a combination of hug and hammer to try to rescue Republicans’ repeal-and-replace plan for Obamacare after a rocky roll out.
The hug: “Trump plans to travel the country to talk up the need for repeal, Vice President Pence has mobilized, Cabinet members will be deployed, administration officials are blitzing talk radio, and the White House has begun outreach to conservative groups.”
The hammer, per a White House official: “Ultimately, members are going to be faced with a binary choice: Do I support repeal, or have I gone to voters for four election cycles in a row, and now look to keep Obamacare?”
Playbook: “We’re told the president is being urged to stop saying that this health-care bill represents the beginning of a negotiation. He supports the bill, and any confusion about where he stands, allies and aides say, is not helpful. His rhetoric already seems to have changed. He’s privately threatening retribution for people who don’t get on board.”
