The president kicked off the week with a spat over black NFL players’ protests, while Republicans bungled their final (for now) attempt to repeal Obamacare
- Each week Trump seems to make more news than most presidents do in a lifetime. The Guardian is keeping track of it all in this series every Saturday
Having whipped up a national row over black NFL players’ protests in a Friday-night speech in Alabama, Trump, clearly convinced he was on to a winner, continued to poke at the wound all weekend. Players hit back in unprecedented numbers by kneeling, locking arms or staying in the tunnel during the national anthem. Whether the president chose to spark the controversy as a distraction from difficulties with North Korea or the Republicans’ flailing healthcare bill, or to shore up his rightwing base following doubts among the faithful about his attempts to cut an immigration deal with Democrats “Chuck and Nancy”, the effect was to drown out the original reason for the protests – racism and police brutality – and reframe the issue as one about patriotism. Trump planted himself cynically and effectively on the side of the flag, the military and The Star-Spangled Banner.
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US politics
Trump claims tax plan is not for the rich | The minute
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Donald Trump is charging hard to sell his overhaul of the US tax he says are aimed at “everyday hardworking Americans”. Unsurprisingly, analysis shows those most likely to g...
Zombie health bill: why the Republican plan will rise from the dead
The bill to replace Obamacare is deeply unpopular with the American public and the medical establishment – but here’s why we haven’t seen the last of it
The Republicans’ health bill seems to keep coming back from the dead. Many thought we’d seen the last of it when it failed the first time around this spring. It has been revived multiple times since – just to die again this Tuesday.
The bill is deeply unpopular with the American public, reviled by the medical establishment and ...
Trump says he is willing to work with Democrats on healthcare reform
President says he expects a vote on healthcare next year and says he may issue a ‘major’ executive order to allow the purchase of insurance across state lines
Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was open to working with Democrats on healthcare, following the collapse of yet another Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Trump claimed that the GOP could corral enough votes to pass the measure – a last-gasp effort to deliver on a central campaign promise of the last seven years – but not in time for this week’s deadline, after which 60 votes would be needed instead of 51.
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‘Height of hypocrisy’: Clinton calls out Trump team over private email reports
Donald Trump’s daughter and son-in-law among six administration figures who reportedly used private email accounts for White House business
At least six senior Trump administration figures have used private email accounts for official White House business, according to various media reports.
Related: Republican plan to defeat Obamacare looks doomed as Susan Collins says no to bill
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Hearing, interrupted: wall of protest over healthcare bill | The minute
- Latest Obamacare repeal effort hit by protest … Trump tells athletes where to stand … Jared and Ivanka’s private emails ... and more
- Get the day’s politics news in 60 seconds every weekday. By Tom McCarthy
10.26pm BST
A Republican attempt to speed a healthcare bill through committee was confronted by hundreds of demonstrators who lined Senate halls and interrupted the proceedings with chants for justice. Many were detained....
Republican plan to defeat Obamacare looks doomed as Susan Collins says no to bill
- Maine senator calls bill ‘deeply flawed’ and says she will not vote for it
- Number of Americans with cover would be ‘reduced by millions’, CBO finds
The latest Republican bill to repeal Obamacare appears doomed to fail after a key senator came out strongly against it within minutes of an analysis which said the plan would strip health insurance from “millions” of Americans.
Moments after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a partial analysis of the Republicans’ plan, Maine Senator Susan Collins announced she would not vote for the bill, and called it “deeply flawed”.
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Ted Cruz joins Republicans ranged against Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill
Effort to replace ACA appears doomed as Cruz indicates Lee will follow him and Collins says it is ‘very difficult’ for her to envision voting for the bill
The Trump administration’s latest efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) appeared to be disintegrating over the weekend, as a growing number of Republican senators indicated they would vote against the so-called Graham-Cassidy bill.
Related: Trump attacks McCain and other Republicans over healthcare failure
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‘All hands on deck’: protesters to target healthcare bill at rallies across US
Hundreds prepare to gather in Washington and at dozens of other sites in coming days even as John McCain’s opposition threatens bill’s survival
Activist groups praised John McCain for his promise to vote no on the Lindsey Graham-Bill Cassidy healthcare bill on Friday, but they warned against complacency as they said the fight to protect the Affordable Care Act was “not over”.
McCain’s pledge, which means Republicans can only afford to lose one more Senate vote in their quest to...
McCain says no on healthcare | The minute
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- Get the day’s politics news in 60 seconds every weekday. By Tom McCarthy
Senator John McCain said the latest Republican plan to dismantle Barack Obama’s healthcare law did not pass his test for “regular order” and he would be voting no, likely ruining the bill’s chances for passing.
McCain’s chance to do the right thing
I take no pleasure in announcing my opposition. Far from it. The bill’s authors are my dear friends and I think the world of them.
– Senator John McCain
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