'Right before Thanksgiving': Trump sparks social media backlash over ACA subsidy remarks

President Donald Trump set off a new firestorm over the future of the Affordable Care Act, saying he prefers giving ACA funds “directly to the people” instead of extending subsidies to insurance companies.

The comments came Tuesday night as Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One en route to Florida, when the president suggested he might even prefer letting the subsidies expire entirely.

“I’d rather not,” he responded when asked whether he planned on extending ACA subsidies. “Somebody said, ‘I want to extend them for two years,’ I don’t want to extend them for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all.”

“I like my plan the best,” he added.

Reactions on social media were swift and often critical.

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) told her X followers: “Got it … right before Thanksgiving … health care for 20M Americans isn’t your priority … on your way to your resort …”

NBC News political reporter Sahil Kapur highlighted the uncertainty with Trump’s plan.

“Unclear how that'd work,” Kapur wrote on Bluesky in response to Trump floating the idea of giving funds “directly to the people.” He called the remarks “another major blow to extending the expiring ACA tax credits as sharp premium hikes await millions of Americans starting in January.”

“It is also unclear to Trump how that would work because he doesn’t understand anything about healthcare, health insurance, the ACA, or ACA subsidies,” author John D. Moore wrote on Bluesky.

“If Dems send Mamdani back in to talk with Trump, Trump will be agreeing to permanent ACA subsidies before they even sit down,” Bluesky user @androo wrote Tuesday.

Timothy McBride, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, summed up Trump’s new posturing with a single word on Bluesky: “Whiplash..”

The MAGA leader’s comments come as an estimated 22 million Americans face potential premium hikes starting in January, according to NBC News.