'Get it done!' Trump orders rush on $2K handouts in attack on 'rip off' health companies

President Donald Trump issued a demand Tuesday that Congress quickly approve his proposal to send checks directly to Americans as an alternative to extending government health care subsidies, ordering lawmakers to “get it done, now.”

“THE ONLY HEALTHCARE I WILL SUPPORT OR APPROVE IS SENDING THE MONEY DIRECTLY BACK TO THE PEOPLE, WITH NOTHING GOING TO THE BIG, FAT, RICH INSURANCE COMPANIES, WHO HAVE MADE $TRILLIONS, AND RIPPED OFF AMERICA LONG ENOUGH,” Trump wrote Tuesday on his social media platform Truth Social.

“THE PEOPLE WILL BE ALLOWED TO NEGOTIATE AND BUY THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, INSURANCE. POWER TO THE PEOPLE! Congress, do not waste your time and energy on anything else. This is the only way to have great Healthcare in America!!! GET IT DONE, NOW.”

Trump first floated the multi-billion-dollar handout earlier this month as a way to end the government shutdown, which largely centered around a debate on extending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act.

He later doubled down on the idea, insisting that the payouts would be $2,000 checks that Americans could use to spend on health insurance on the private market, though his own Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, fumbled Trump’s pledge by saying Trump’s proposal could be referring to the general cost savings Americans have and would see under his policies.

Even after Bessent poured cold water on the proposal, Trump continued to back the idea, suggesting that the funds would come from the United States’ new tariff revenue.