Reporter Presses Trump on Logic of Healthcare Idea: ‘Won’t Americans Buy It From Insurance Companies?’

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

During a Friday press gaggle on Air Force One, after President Donald Trump announced a tentative plan to give money “directly to the people to buy their own healthcare,” instead of to “fat” insurance companies, a reporter questioned his logic, asking, “Won’t Americans buy it from insurance companies?” 

Trump was initially asked about Obamacare tax credits, keeping health-insurance premiums affordable for millions, which are set to expire at the end of the year after Democrats failed to secure their extension in the deal that ended the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.

Notably, these tax credits triggered the shutdown in the first place, with Trump and his allies accusing Democrats of trying to use taxpayer funds to cover healthcare for “illegal aliens.”

Making sure to first dub the Affordable Care Act the “Unaffordable Care Act,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, “You see the kind of money the insurance companies are making. Hundreds of millions of dollars. Their stock is up over 1,000%.”

“We’re gonna give the money to the people to buy their own healthcare,” Trump said. “It will be one of the greatest deals this country has ever made. Instead of giving it to insurance companies — big, fat, bloated insurance companies — we’re giving the money directly to the people to buy their own healthcare.”

“Won’t Americans buy it from insurance companies?” questioned a reporter. “Ahh,” Trump paused before responding, “Some may. I mean, they’ll be negotiating prices. It’s really a free enterprise. You can do it through an insurance company. You can also buy it direct. They have savings accounts. They have a lot of different ways of buying healthcare, ” before moving on to a question about Venezuela.

Pod Save America host Jon Favreau, who was a speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, was quick to rip into the president’s comments, writing Friday on X, “80 years as a human and 10 years in politics and he has no idea how health insurance works.”