*Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2017 *

**Remarks Prior to a Meeting With President Abdelfattah Said Elsisi of Egypt and an Exchange With Reporters in New York City **

*September 20, 2017 *

*President Trump.* Thank you very much. It is a great honor to have with us today President Elsisi of Egypt. We have worked long and hard, and we are making a lot of progress on a lot of different fronts, and we appreciate everything that you've done.

*President Elsisi.* Thank you very much.

*President Trump.* And I know you appreciate everything that we've done. [*Laughter*] But the relationship is very good, and thank you very much for your representatives. The relationship really has been very, very good, and we look forward to continuing today and tomorrow.

*President Elsisi.* Thank you very much.

[*At this point, President Elsisi spoke in Arabic, and his remarks were translated by an interpreter as follows.*]

*President Elsisi.* I thank you, Your Excellency, as well, for making the time to meet. This is a very good chance that we are meeting once more, and I'd like to thank you and extend my appreciation for all the support you are giving to Egypt.

*President Trump.* Thank you very much. Thank you very much, everybody.

*U.S. Military Aid to Egypt *

*Q. *Mr. President, will you restart aid to Egypt? Will you restart military aid to Egypt? Is that something you discussed today?

*President Trump.* We're going to certainly consider it.

*Health Care Reform Legislation *

*Q. *Mr. President, is Graham-Cassidy going to pass? Is Graham-Cassidy going to pass?

*President Trump.* I think it has a very good chance. Obamacare is a disaster. It's failing badly. You look at the rates. You look at what's happening with premiums for people. They can't afford Obamacare. It's been a catastrophic situation.

I believe that Graham-Cassidy really will do it the right way, and it is doing it the right way. It has tremendous support from Republicans. Certainly, we're at 47 or 48 already—Senators—and a lot of others are looking at it very positively. Mike Pence has been working on it—our Vice President—who has done such a great job on health care and knows health care so well—loves it. I think he might want to even say a few words about it.

Mike.

*Vice President Michael R. Pence.* President Trump made a commitment to the American people that we would repeal and replace Obamacare, and we're grateful to Senator Graham, Senator Cassidy, and others who are coming together to keep the promise to the American people.

As the President has said many times, Obamacare is collapsing. American families and American businesses are bearing the burden, and this President and our entire administration are absolutely committed to support Graham-Cassidy, move forward legislation that will give the

American people a fresh start on health care reform, not with Government mandates, but by repealing the mandates on businesses and individuals and giving the resources to the States to create health care solutions that will work for each individual State.

*President Trump.* For 7 years, I've been hearing "repeal and replace Obamacare." For 7 years, I've been hearing how bad Obamacare is, but really more in the last 2 to 3 years than anything. And—but for 7 years, I've been hearing "repeal and replace." We've been hearing how bad it is. We've been looking at the premiums go up. We've been looking at deductibles that have been through the roof. You have States like Arizona where the premiums are going to be worse this year than last year, and last year they were at a hundred-percent increase, 116 percent.

I think there's tremendous support for it. I think it's actually much better than the previous shot, which was very sadly let down. But again, we've been hearing about repeal and replace for 7 years. They have a chance.

I thought that when I won, I would go to the Oval Office, sit down at my desk, and there would be a health care bill on my desk, to be honest. And it hasn't worked out that way. And I think a lot of Republicans are embarrassed by it, but I have to tell you, I think they're going to do a great job. If this happens, it will be a great thing for the country. Obamacare is a disaster. It's a wreck. It's a train wreck, and it's only getting worse.

And I must be honest with you, whether it happens or not, something is going to happen, and it's going to be positive because, frankly, Obamacare cannot make it. It cannot make it. We think this has a very good chance, but Obamacare is only getting worse. It's dysfunctional now. It's totally dysfunctional. And at some point, the Senate is going to be forced to make a deal. They're just about at that point right now, because Obamacare is so bad.

So I do think it has a very good chance of passage, and I certainly hope it passes, and they'll be voting in the not-too-distant future.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 4:35 p.m. in the Hubbard I meeting room at the Lotte New York Palace hotel.

*Categories:* Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: New York City; Meetings With Foreign Leaders and International Officials : Egypt, President Elsisi*.*

*Locations: *New York City.

*Names:* Elsisi, Abdelfattah Said; Pence, Michael R.

*Subjects:* Egypt : President; Egypt : Relations with U.S.; Egypt : U.S. assistance; Health and medical care : Affordability and costs; Health and medical care : Health insurance reforms; New York : President's visits; White House Office : Vice President.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201700667.