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“Health Care’s Irrelevance to Trump, GOP,” by IP attorney and award-winning author Timothy Trainer

Oct. 30, 2025 — In some cases, having something that is imperfect is better than nothing. When it comes to health care in the United States, having health insurance that is somewhat affordable is better than nothing. In a country deemed as rich as the United States, it is a constant issue of controversy that the country doesn’t have a better health care system for all its people.

At the moment, the federal government shutdown, while about many things, seems to have centered on health care costs. Specifically, the Obamacare/Affordable Care Act issue and how to provide something for as many people as possible is the hurdle that must be overcome to get the government back to work.

It’s worth recalling a few points as Trump and the GOP led Congress could do more but simply won’t. We’ve experienced a decade of Trump rhetoric with nothing other than words to show for his efforts. As a candidate in 2015, Trump vowed to provide the country with “something terrific:” Trump on immigration: Mass deportation and ‘legal status’ | CNN Politics. His “terrific” plan was and continues to be non-existent.

During the campaign in 2016, Trump said that, “On day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare. . . . My first day in office, I am going to ask Congress to put a bill on my desk getting rid of this disastrous law and replacing it with reforms that expand choice, freedom, affordability:” Fact-checking Trump’s ‘repeal and replace’ Obamacare timeline – ABC News.

In 2019, Trump’s continued yapping about health care included his announcement that there would be a “phenomenal” new plan: Trump vows ‘phenomenal’ new health care plan – ABC News. In fact, not only was there never any “phenomenal” new plan, there was no plan at all. As ABC News dug into the issue, even senior White House officials admitted being far from putting together an actual health care bill.

As Trump’s first term neared its end, Trump teased the country about a new health care plan. In July 2020, he commented during an interview that “We’re signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan that the Supreme Court decision on DACA gave me the right to do.” At another point, he said that “Over the next two weeks, I’ll be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all pre-existing conditions for all customers. That’s a big thing. I’ve always been very strongly in favor – we have to cover pre-existing conditions. So we will be pursuing a major executive order, requiring health insurance companies to cover all pre-existing conditions for all of its customers:” Trump promised a health care plan before the end of August. It never came. | CNN Politics. Despite all his pronouncements, nothing ever came of all of the blathering rhetoric about health care.

While the GOP controls the White House and Congress today, the plan that has come to light is obvious: strip Americans of the ability to get affordable health care. There never was a plan and they will seemingly never work on and deliver a detailed plan. The GOP talks and, sadly, millions listen to the lies about a future plan that will never exist.

As the 2026 health care enrollment period begins, sticker shock is a polite way of describing the initial premiums people are seeing for their plans: Obamacare enrollees get first look at 2026 prices as premiums soar | CNN Politics. The decade long talk from Trump and the GOP is no longer just talk. They are exposed as having no real concern to fix anything related to health care costs as their history of inaction suggests. This issue, perhaps more than most, underscores what or who Trump and the GOP care about: the rich and super-rich, not the average person.