Trump Suggests He Would Work With Democrats on Health Care

The comment at the congressional ball on Thursday comes ahead of a deadline to end health care subsidies before the end of 2025.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to attendees during the Congressional Ball at the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington, DC, on Dec. 11, 2025. Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested he might work with congressional Democrats to address health care, as insurance subsidies are set to expire by the end of the year.

“What a nice group of Democrats,” Trump said during an event at the White House Congressional Ball. “We have a lot of Democrats, and we welcome you. Honestly, we do.”

The president added, “I think we’re going to start working together on health care. I really predict that.”

The White House has signaled it would come up with a new approach on health care after the Senate rejected separate proposals from Republicans and Democrats on Thursday. It comes ahead of an end-of-year deadline that could lead to price increases due to a lapse in subsidies.

The subsidies were initially passed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and were extended under the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. They became the center of debate during the weeks-long government shutdown that lasted from Oct. 1 until mid-November.

Trump at one point said he would like direct payments sent to health savings accounts, calling it “Trumpcare” as an alternative to the Affordable Care Act, known colloquially as Obamacare.

Speaking to Fox News’s Laura Ingraham in November, the president said that he would like the “money to go into an account for people where the people buy their own health insurance” and that people can “go out and negotiate their own insurance.”

Days later, Trump told reporters that he had spoken with Democrats in “personal talks” about health care, adding that a plan to give money to personal accounts is needed because “insurance companies are making a fortune.”

“Their stock is up over 1,000 percent over a short period of time. They are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars, and they’re not really putting it back, certainly not like they should,” he said.

As Republicans and Democrats have yet to find a compromise, senators on Thursday voted on two bills that ultimately failed. A Democratic-backed bill would have extended the subsidies, and a Republican alternative would have created new health savings accounts.

The Senate voted 51–48 not to move forward on the Democratic bill, with four Republicans voting with Democrats. The legislation needed 60 votes to proceed, as did the Republican bill, which was also blocked on a 51–48 vote.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said ahead of the vote that the Democrats’ simple extension of the subsidies is “an attempt to disguise the real impact of Obamacare’s spiraling health care costs.”

“Let’s avert a disaster,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said ahead of the vote on Thursday. “The American people are watching.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who voted in favor of the Democratic bill, said that lawmakers have “got to do better.”

“We can’t just say, ‘happy holidays, brace for next year,’” she said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said that Democrats sought to negotiate with Republicans after the shutdown ended but that the talks turned unproductive.

During the congressional ball on Thursday, Trump at one point said he was happy that many Democratic lawmakers attended the event.

“I want to thank all of the great people in the room, both Democrat and Republican, who worked so hard on behalf of our great nation,” Trump told the members of Congress later on in his remarks.

“I think it’s a tremendous tribute that so many Democrats have joined us tonight.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.