As the Republican Party gets closer to passage of legislation stripping health care from millions of Americans, new reporting has revealed that President Donald Trump is apparently clueless on the details of what is supposed to be his signature legislation.
The outlet NOTUS reported on Wednesday that when Trump huddled with a group of House Republican leaders, he demonstrated a degree of jaw-dropping ignorance about the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” Three sources with direct knowledge of the conversation said Trump told Republicans that they will lose elections if they cut Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.
One Republican member of Congress then told Trump: “But we’re touching Medicaid in this bill.”
Trump’s apparent confusion continues to raise questions about his mental capability to lead the country. In June, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said after speaking to Trump he felt the president had “lost it” and that he is “not the same person that I dealt with just four years ago, and he’s incapable of even a train of thought.”
The legislation under consideration isn’t just “touching” Medicaid, it is delivering a severe blow to one of the signature programs that forms America’s safety net.
If the bill becomes law, more than 17 million people are projected to lose health insurance coverage. Medicaid has covered Americans since 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” programs. Disrupting access to the safety net, which includes Social Security and food assistance like SNAP, has often been described as the “third rail” of American politics. When you touch the third rail of a railroad track, you receive a massive electric shock.
Trump has been loudly advocating for the passage of the bill, whether he truly understands the contents or not. Since becoming president, he has repeatedly failed to oversee the passage of major legislation.
In his first term, his effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, (aka Obamacare, was thwarted by unified Democratic opposition and a few Republican defectors. Unlike former President Joe Biden, Trump couldn’t shepherd the passage of an infrastructure bill either—“infrastructure week” didn’t happen until there was a Democrat in the White House. Trump’s biggest legislative win was the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” which cut taxes for the ultra-wealthy and failed to stimulate the economy.
The health care-busting core of the bill currently under consideration is hated by the American public. Polling has shown that people are opposed to losing coverage and the more they know about the bill, the less they want it.
Democrats are preparing to campaign against Republicans based on the unpopularity of the bill.
After the legislation squeezed through the Senate, DNC chairman Ken Martin said in a release, “Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have sent a clear message to the American people: Your kids, your job, and your elderly relatives don’t matter. This is one of the worst bills in the history of Congress.”
Martin added, “Democrats will stand shoulder to shoulder with working families to kick these Republicans out of their seats in 2026.”
Oddly, the reporting on Trump’s out of touch comments show his thinking is allied with the Democratic Party—attacking Medicaid is indeed a great way to lose elections.