Trump sets ultimatum for Friday healthcare plan vote

US President Donald Trump warned House Republican lawmakers that he will leave Obamacare in place and move on to tax reform if they do not get behind new healthcare legislation and support it in a vote on Friday.

The American Healthcare Act is intended to replace parts of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law. But Thursday's vote was delayed because of opposition from some Republicans, despite Trump's repeated attempts to persuade them to back the legislature.

Trump now says he wants to move on and vote - whatever the result on Friday.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said this was exactly the message delivered to Republican lawmakers at a meeting behind closed doors on Thursday.

"We have been promising the American people that we will repeal and replace this broken law because it’s collapsing and it’s failing families, and tomorrow we’re proceeding," House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters after an evening all-hands meeting. He ignored reporters who asked if he had secured the votes to pass the Bill.

Trump and his fellow Republicans had pledged to replace Obamacare, which they view as too intrusive and too expensive. But, after a week of calling Republican lawmakers and bringing them into the Oval Office for meetings, Trump failed to close the deal with two different factions within his party on time for the planned Thursday vote.

Conservatives felt the Bill did not go far enough to repeal Obamacare and moderates felt the plan could hurt their constituents. House Republican leaders had signalled they were ready to work through the weekend to figure out a way to reconcile their differences.

It was not clear late on Thursday evening that Trump and the Republican leaders who crafted the Bill had enough support to pass it, meaning they now risk defeat in their first attempt at major legislation and may fail to deliver on a key campaign pledge.