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Trump has 30 percent chance of finishing four-year term - report

Author
news.com.au,
Publish Date
Fri, 13 Oct 2017, 9:09AM
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Trump has 30 percent chance of finishing four-year term - report

Author
news.com.au,
Publish Date
Fri, 13 Oct 2017, 9:09AM

Donald Trump yelled in the White House that he hates everyone there, and his former chief strategist Steve Bannon has told people the president has just a 30 per cent chance of finishing his four-year term, according to a new report.

Vanity Fair spoke to half a dozen Republican politicians and Trump advisers who describe him as "unstable", "losing a step" and "unravelling" in recent weeks.

Two people said Trump yelled at longtime security guard Keith Schiller, "I hate everyone in the White House! There are a few exceptions, but I hate them!"

It seems Trump started to lose it when Alabama voters selected Roy Moore as its Republican nominee for the Senate over Trump's preferred candidate, acting Senator Luther Strange.

"Alabama was a huge blow to his psyche," a person close to Trump said. "He saw the cult of personality was broken."

After the loss, Trump did something he rarely does: deleted a bunch of tweets that backed Strange.

Republican Senator Bob Corker's comments that the White House is an "adult day care centre" and that he's worried Trump could trigger World War III also infuriated the president.

Trump was also reportedly furious when he read that his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called him a "f***ing moron" behind his back.

Former chief adviser Steve Bannon, who has since returned to Breitbart News, reportedly told Trump his greatest chance of being impeached was not by Congress, but through the 25th Amendment, which states a majority of the Cabinet may vote to remove the president from office if they certify the president is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office".

Trump signs executive order to bypass Congress on healthcare

US President Donald Trump - frustrated over Congress' failure to repeal and replace ObamaCare - has signed an executive order to make it easier for people to buy cheaper, bare-bones health insurance.

Team Trump said the order will allow small businesses and individuals to form associations to sponsor coverage that can be marketed across state lines.

"Since I became president of the United States, I just keep hearing repeal and replace, repeal, replace, well, we're starting that process. And we're starting it in a very positive manner," Trump said at the White House, calling ObamaCare "a nightmare".

The order, the President said, "directs the Department of Health and Human Services, the Treasury, and the Department of Labour, to take action to increase competition, increase choice, and increase access to lower-priced, high-quality health care options and people will have great, great health care".

Trump also said he would continue to pressure Congress to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Trump has long argued that interstate competition will lead to lower premiums - though experts say it could also hike premiums for older Americans and those with existing conditions.

The new policies also do not have to provide the 10 "essential health benefits" covered under ObamaCare, including maternity care, emergency room visits, mental health treatment and others.

Trump's move is likely to encounter opposition from medical associations, consumer groups and even insurers - the same coalition that has lobbied the Republican-controlled Congress against earlier repeal-and-replace efforts.

It was unclear when the plans would become available, but it's unlikely consumers could sign up during next year's enrolment period, which begins November 1.

Experts questioned Trump's authority to issue such an order, which would exempt some plans but not others from ObamaCare rules rather than pursuing the changes through legislation.

The action could open Trump to legal challenges from Democratic state attorneys-general, who have said they will sue Trump if he tries to destroy ObamaCare.

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