President Donald Trump claimed to be in "negotiations" with Democrats that he said could lead to "very good things" amid a government shutdown over health care subsidies.
During an Oval Office event on Monday, Trump said that "the American people are unable to get good health care."
"Obamacare has been a a wreck as you know," he argued, "and to do that we have to keep it propped up and keep and do the best you can with it it's a mess but things are — a lot of things are going on in that, you know, we talk about Hamas then we talk about negotiations that we have going on right now. We have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things, and I'm talking about good things with regard to health care."
"We are speaking with the Democrats, and some very good things could happen with respect to health care," he said.
"Would you make a deal with them on the ACA subsidies?" one reporter asked.
"If we made the right deal, I'd make a deal," Trump remarked. "You have a problem with Obamacare. The subsidies are so much. It's billions and billions of dollars is being wasted. And we can have a much better health care that we have right now."
The president's statement appeared at odds with those of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who made remarks earlier in the day.
"There's nothing to negotiate," she told reporters.