Summary

Chapter 12 focuses on Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare. Replacing Obama’s signature achievement had been a priority for Republicans for years, but Trump likely held more Democratic views on healthcare. Nonetheless, he was convinced a repeal could be cast as a significant win for his administration and thus supported it. Most of the work involved was outsourced to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. Though the President liked Ryan, Bannon saw him as an establishment figure and thus anti-Trump b default. Accordingly he sought to undermine Ryan’s repeal efforts, causing the first attempt to fail when a number of GOP House members withheld support. Bannon’s eventual goal was to push Ryan out of leadership and replace him with a more conservative Speaker. Throughout this time, Trump was far more interested in the ongoing Russia investigation...