In a week that felt like a month, Americans got a clear view of Donald Trump’s governing style and also of his fabled dealmaking approach.
Or rather, I should say, Trump got a good sense of what governing is like — hard, hard, hard. And it’s bound to get more difficult given the president’s tactics of consent: Do as I say or you’re dead to me.
Even bolder, Trump told congressional Republicans that if they didn’t pass the American Health Care Act to repeal Obamacare, he was finished. Done. He’d walk away and move on to other things, he told recalcitrants. (To perhaps a new resort project, many were overheard praying.)
House opposition to the health care bill came both from moderates, as well as from hard-core, market purists, notably the Freedom Caucus. The latter didn’t want Obamacare Lite. They wanted obliteration. As negotiations continued until the vote was called off Friday afternoon, the path to reform became increasingly muddled — and the way forward more complex. Fixing health care was never going to be a one-off.