President Donald Trump, speaking to supporters in North Carolina Friday night, warned that Democrats will shut down the government in January because they are "totally beholden" to the nation's insurance companies and are resisting the changes he wants to make to the nation's healthcare payment system.
"The problem is the Democrats will shut down the government because they are totally beholden," Trump said in his speech, which aired live on Newsmax. "I don't love that word, but they're beholden to the insurance companies."
This means that "They'll probably close down the government," he said.
"It's so simple," he said. "The money should go to the people."
Trump said individuals should receive federal health care money directly so they can buy their own insurance, which he explained will produce better benefits at lower cost.
He said consumers would have "a lot of money left over," while insurance companies "won't be happy," but added that was acceptable if Americans end up with "great health care at the right price."
Trump also on Friday night aimed at the Affordable Care Act, claiming Democrats "demanded" steep premium increases set to hit next year.
He referred to the law as the "Unaffordable Care Act, commonly known as Barack Hussein Obamacare," and said that it was "created to make insurance companies rich."
"It was bad healthcare at much too high a cost," said Trump. "You see now that the steep increase in premiums ... it was never any good."
"Remember, I didn't do this," he added. "This is Obamacare, this is Obamacare. This isn't Trump, but you don't need it."
Trump has outlined a plan to overhaul health insurance by shifting federal health care dollars away from insurance companies and sending the money directly to individuals, allowing them to purchase coverage on their own.
He says this approach would give consumers more choice, lower costs, and better benefits, while cutting out what he describes as waste and profit-taking by large insurers.
Trump has framed insurance companies as the main barrier to affordable care and said he plans to confront industry executives directly, pushing them to cut prices in the same way he claims his administration pressured pharmaceutical companies.
His shutdown warning Friday came as lawmakers face a Jan. 30 government funding deadline, with Democrats looking to use their leverage to secure concessions on federal healthcare spending after legislation was passed without extending Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Last fall's record-long shutdown was driven in large part by Democrats' push to extend the enhanced ACA premium subsidies set to expire on New Year's Eve, with Democrats refusing to back a funding deal that did not address the tax credits.
Congress ultimately reopened the government with a stopgap funding law that runs through Jan. 30, 2026, but it did not include an extension of the ACA subsidies, leaving the issue to carry into the next funding fight.
Trump on Friday described health insurers as "big monster companies" and said he plans to meet with insurance executives soon, suggesting he may try to extract price cuts similar to what he said he secured from drugmakers.
He also celebrated what he called a major breakthrough on prescription drug prices, saying his administration is implementing a "most favored nation" approach that would tie U.S. prices to the lowest rates paid by other countries.
Trump said Americans have paid far more for the same medicines than patients abroad and claimed the new policy would lower costs substantially in the United States while forcing other countries to pay more money.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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