Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Trump chooses Gottlieb to run FDA; Pharma breathes sigh of relief

Dr. Scott Gottlieb is seen in this American Enterprise Institute photo released in Washington, DC, U.S., March 10, 2017. Courtesy The American Enterprise Institute/Handout via REUTERS

By Toni Clarke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump has chosen Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a conservative health policy expert with deep ties to the pharmaceutical industry, to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the White House said on Friday.

If confirmed by the Senate, Gottlieb would be in charge of implementing Trump’s plan to dramatically cut regulations governing food, drugs, cosmetics, dietary supplements and tobacco.

Gottlieb is well known on Capitol Hill, where he has testified multiple times on hot-button health issues, including complex drug pricing matters, and is viewed favorably by drug companies and pharmaceutical investors. He sits on the boards of several small drug and biotech companies and is an adviser to GlaxoSmithKline Plc <GSK.L>.

“Thank God it’s Gottlieb,” Brian Skorney, an investment analyst at Robert W. Baird, wrote in a research note. “We view this as a favorable development for the sector.”

Gottlieb was chosen over Jim O’Neill, a libertarian investor close to Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, a PayPal co-founder who now advises Trump on technology and science matters. O’Neill’s stated view that drugs should be approved before being proven effective generated widespread alarm.

Gottlieb, 44, is a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank and a partner at a large venture capital fund. He is a former FDA deputy commissioner who has advocated a loosening of requirements needed for approval of new medical products.

“Scott knows how the agency works and he will move it forwards, though maybe not always in ways the agency is comfortable with,” said John Taylor, a lawyer and president of compliance and regulatory affairs with the consulting firm Greenleaf Health and a former acting FDA deputy commissioner.

In addition to his public health and health policy roles, Gottlieb has for the past decade been a partner at New Enterprise Associates, a large venture fund with investments in the life sciences, medical technology and healthcare services.

Critics of the nomination say Gottlieb’s financial background present an array of potential conflicts of interest.

Dr. Michael Carome, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, said Gottlieb “has spent most of his career dedicated to promoting the financial interests of the pharmaceutical industry.” If confirmed, he added, “he will have to be recused from key decisions time and time again.”

SIGNIFICANT CHANGES AT FDA EXPECTED

Stephen Ubl, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said it “looks forward to working with Dr. Gottlieb in his new role and engaging with him and the Agency as they seek to modernize the drug discovery and review process.”

Gottlieb, who declined to comment on the nomination, is unlikely to up-end the FDA in the way O’Neill might have, but he is nonetheless expected to bring significant change, including moving the agency to increase flexibility in the clinical trial development process.

In this he will be supported by the recently passed 21st Century Cures Act which instructs the FDA among other things to consider the use of “real world evidence” to support new drug applications. This could include anecdotal data, observational studies and patient reports

“People don’t want to take chances with safety, but there’s increasingly some clamor to be more flexible on the efficacy side,” said Kathleen Sanzo, who leads the FDA practice at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. “You need to have some signal of efficacy. The question is, how much?”

The FDA has attempted to push back against moves to sideline randomized clinical trials, long considered the gold standard. In January it issued a report documenting 22 cases in which drugs that appeared to show promise in early trials turned out to be either ineffective or unsafe or both in larger trials.

One of Gottlieb’s priorities will likely be to streamline the process for approving generic versions of complex, difficult-to-copy therapeutics. He has stated publicly that he does not believe the FDA has good tools or policies to move such products and has advocated the creation of different approval standards.

“He’s a thoughtful and nuanced kind of guy, and not solely an industry shill,” said Jim Shehan, head of Lowenstein Sandler’s FDA regulatory practice.

A survey conducted by Mizuho Securities USA Inc of 53 pharmaceutical executives found that 72 percent favored Gottlieb over other potential candidates. Many described him as knowledgeable, experienced and balanced.

“Gottlieb is someone who the industry and investors view as an incremental positive,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Yee. “The industry and investors need rational scientific logic and an understanding of risks and benefits.”

Patient advocates welcomed the news.

Gottlieb “has firsthand experience at the FDA and as a physician that has treated patients understands the breadth of work that needs to be achieved on their behalf,” said Ellen Sigal, founder of Friends of Cancer Research.

(Reporting by Toni Clarke; Additional reporting by Deena Beasley; Editing by Alistair Bell and Lisa Shumaker)

More states seek to halt Trump’s new travel ban in court

Demonstrators rally against the Trump administration's new ban against travelers from six Muslim-majority nations, outside of the White House. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By Dan Levine and Mica Rosenberg

(Reuters) – Several states said on Thursday they would move forward with legal challenges to a revised executive order signed by President Donald Trump this week that temporarily bars the admission of refugees and some travelers from a group of Muslim-majority countries.

The new travel order, which is set to take effect on March 16, changed and replaced a more sweeping ban issued on Jan. 27 that caused chaos and protests at airports.

The first order was hit by more than two dozen lawsuits, including a challenge brought by Washington state and joined by Minnesota.

In response to Washington’s suit, U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle ordered an emergency halt to the policy last month. That ruling was upheld by an appeals court in San Francisco.

Washington state Attorney General Robert Ferguson said on Thursday he planned to ask Robart to confirm that his ruling would also apply to Trump’s revised order, which would halt it from being implemented.

Ferguson told a news conference the new order harmed a “smaller group” of individuals but that would not affect the state’s ability to challenge it in court.

He said the burden was on the Trump administration to show that the court ruling from last month did not apply to its new policy.

A U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman declined to comment on pending litigation.

The government has said the president has wide authority to implement immigration policy and that the travel rules are necessary to protect against terrorist attacks.

New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, said on Thursday he would be joining Washington’s lawsuit against the new ban and the state of Oregon said it would join too.

The opposition comes on top of a separate legal challenge to the new ban brought by Hawaii on Wednesday. Hawaii had also sued over the previous order and is seeking to amend its complaint to include the new ban. A hearing in that case is set for next Wednesday, a day before the clock starts on the new order.

The states and immigration advocates argue the new ban, like the original one, discriminates against Muslims.

MORE EXEMPTIONS

Trump’s new executive order was designed with the intention of avoiding the legal hurdles.

While the new order keeps a 90-day ban on travel to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, it excludes Iraq.

Refugees are still halted from entering the country for 120 days, but the new order removed an indefinite ban on all refugees from Syria.

The revisions include explicit exemptions for legal permanent residents or existing visa holders and waivers are allowed on a case-by-case basis for some business, diplomatic and other travelers.

The first hurdle for the lawsuits will be proving “standing,” which means finding someone who has been harmed by the policy. With so many exemptions, legal experts have said it might be hard to find individuals a court would rule have a right to sue.

(Reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Peter Cooney)

Republican healthcare plan clears first hurdle as concerns loom

A copy of Obamacare repeal and replace recommendations (L) produced by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives sit next to a copy of the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price addresses the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Susan Cornwell and Yasmeen Abutaleb

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Republicans cleared the first hurdle in their plan for the massive healthcare system overhaul backed by President Donald Trump, despite concerns among Democratic lawmakers, hospitals and insurers about its unknown costs and impact on coverage.

The House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee approved the bill along party lines on Thursday morning after debating the draft legislation for nearly 18 hours.

The chamber’s Energy and Commerce committee continued its own marathon session after Republican leaders earlier this week unveiled the plan, which would undo much of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

Republicans, who control the House and the Senate, are eyeing mid-April for passage of the bill.

“This is an historic step, an important step in the repeal of Obamacare,” said Republican Representative Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means committee after it voted 23-16 for the measure.

The legislation would end the financial penalty for not owning health insurance, reverse most Obamacare taxes, introduce a smaller system of tax credits based on age rather than income, and overhaul Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor.

The American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and other hospital groups have come out against the bill. The proposed changes to Medicaid have weighed on shares of hospitals, particularly Community Health Systems and Tenet Healthcare Corp, as investors worry about less government reimbursement.

Obamacare also enabled 20 million previously uninsured people to obtain coverage. About half came from a Medicaid expansion that the new bill would end.

America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents Anthem Inc and other insurers, said tax credits for the individual insurance market did not go far enough.

The House Ways and Means committee, which was looking at the tax-related provisions of the bill, made no changes, despite dozens of attempts by Democrats to introduce amendments.

The fast-emerging disorder around the bill, Trump’s first legislative test, follows the chaos triggered by his travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority nations that was later revised.

Trump and fellow Republicans campaigned last year on a pledge to dismantle Obamacare, the signature domestic policy achievement of Democratic former president Barack Obama. They have called it government overreach that had ruined the more than $3 trillion U.S. healthcare system.

RESISTANCE

But Republican lawmakers face resistance from conservatives within their own ranks who say the bill, which would create a system of tax credits to coax people to buy private insurance on the open market, is not radical enough.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has tried to allay those concerns, saying the bill is part of a three-phase plan. But he told Fox News: “The message might not have been absolutely piercing to folks.”

In a series of tweets early on Thursday, Republican Senator Tom Cotton urged his House colleagues to pull back, saying their measure could not pass the Senate without major changes. “What matters in long run is better, more affordable health care for Americans, NOT House leaders’ arbitrary legislative calendar,” he wrote.

Representative Steve King said on CNN that his fellow Republicans must act now. “If nothing gets done here in this Congress, we are stuck with Obamacare,” he said.

Democrats denounce the bill as a gift to the rich and say informed debate on it is impossible without knowing its cost.

“The millionaires and billionaires, they’re going to do just great,” Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Budget Committee told MSNBC. But for working Americans, “this makes that squeeze much tighter and provides windfall tax breaks to the wealthy.”

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi cited the lack of analysis of the bill by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. “This is decision-making without the facts,” she told reporters on Wednesday.

Republicans said they had asked the CBO to provide a preliminary estimate of the cost of the bill and expect to have that analysis by the time it hits the House floor.

“CONSTRUCTIVE IMPROVEMENTS”

Dan Holler, spokesman for the powerful conservative group Heritage Action, also sought more information. “Americans deserve full transparency, which includes the full budget score,” he said.

But some Republicans have cast doubt on the accuracy of CBO estimates, suggesting the agency’s initial assessment of the cost of Obamacare had proved far wide of the mark.

“If you’re looking at the CBO for accuracy, you’re looking in the wrong place,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Wednesday.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence met with leaders of conservative groups who have concerns about the bill on Wednesday. A White House official later said they were open to “constructive improvements.”

Once the two committees have approved their parts of the legislation, both will go to the House Budget Committee, which is expected to merge them into one bill that will then be voted on by the full chamber.

House Speaker Paul Ryan wants that vote to happen this month so the bill can move to the Senate for consideration.

Medicaid Chief Medical Officer Andrey Ostrovsky said on Twitter that he was aligned with experts who oppose the bill, breaking with the administration.

(Additional reporting by David Morgan, Brendan O’Brien, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Women worldwide rally for equality, and against Trump in U.S.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks to supporters during the 'Day Without a Woman' on International Women's Day at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

By Joseph Ax and Lisa Fernandez

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Women protested around the world on Wednesday for equal rights and in the United States against President Donald Trump, with many Americans skipping work or boycotting stores to demand economic fairness on International Women’s Day.

American women seized upon the momentum of the Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 21, the day after Trump’s inauguration, once again denouncing his policies on abortion and healthcare.

Dubbed “A Day Without a Woman” in the United States, the nationwide events were modeled in part after pro-immigrant demonstrations on Feb. 16, the latest in a series of anti-Trump protests since his Nov. 8 election.

By having women, who make up 47 percent of the U.S. civilian labor force, flex their economic muscle, organizers hope to call attention to the gender pay gap, access to reproductive health services, and Trump’s actions that have restricted abortion overseas.

Debra Sands, 37, a middle school teacher, joined thousands of women at New York City’s Central Park after her students convinced her to attend.

“This past year’s election made me realize that voting in November isn’t enough,” Sands said.

New York police reported 13 arrests at the protest in midtown Manhattan. Details on the possible charges were not immediately available.

In San Francisco, where about 1,500 people gathered, Christine Bussenius, 37, said she and her female colleagues at Grey Advertising convinced their all-male managers to give them the day off and participate in the rally.

“We were nervous,” she admitted. “But the men stepped up to fill in the void.”

Rallies were held in numerous U.S. cities, including Washington, where demonstrators gathered at the U.S. Labor Department.

Female staffers at Fusion Media Group’s Gizmodo declared they were striking for the day.

At least three U.S. school districts, in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, closed because of staff shortages after teachers requested the day off.

Nearly 1,000 women converged outside Los Angeles City Hall, many of them critical of the Republican-backed healthcare bill that would strip women’s health and abortion provider Planned Parenthood of funding.

“It’s terrifying. It’s anti-woman,” said Kassia Krozsur, 53, a finance professional.

About 200 gathered in Atlanta, where signs read “We are sisters” and “Stop Trump.”

“If we want to change what is going on, we need to turn anger into action. People need to run for local office,” organizer Rebekah Joy said.

An activist attends a demonstration outside the White House as part of "A Day Without a Woman" strike on International Women's Day in Washington, U.S., March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

An activist attends a demonstration outside the White House as part of “A Day Without a Woman” strike on International Women’s Day in Washington, U.S., March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

RALLIES AROUND THE WORLD

Events large and small were held in cities around the world.

Across the Texas border, women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, painted crosses on lamp posts in solemn remembrance of the hundreds of women who have gone missing or were murdered there in recent years.

In Tbilisi, Georgia, women performed “Glass Ceiling,” simulating being trapped by the barely visible barrier that stands between women and workplace equality.

They banged drums in Kiev, Ukraine, and played soccer in Nairobi, Kenya. In Sanaa, capital of war-torn Yemen, women dressed in niqabs, the all-black garments that cover the entire body except for an opening over their eyes, held up a sign reading, “You keep silent while our children die!”

Not all American women, however, were on board with the call for a women’s strike, with some critics citing the vagueness of the movement’s aims and the disruption of work stoppages.

Trump, whose 11-year-old comments about grabbing and kissing women against their will surfaced during the campaign, took to his Twitter account early on Wednesday to cite International Women’s Day and the “critical role” of women around the world.

“I have tremendous respect for women and the many roles they serve that are vital to the fabric of our society and our economy,” the Republican president tweeted.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax and Gina Cherelus in New York, Letitia Stein in St. Petersburg, Florida, Ben Gruber in Los Angeles, Rich McKay in Atlanta, and Lisa Fernandez in San Francisco; Writing by Peter Szekely; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Diane Craft)

House panels to launch fight in Congress over Obamacare replacement

(L-R)U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, and U.S. Representative Greg Walden hold a news conference on the American Health Care Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Thayer

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A potentially lengthy U.S. legislative fight over replacement of the Obamacare health law gets underway on Wednesday as two House of Representatives committees begin negotiating over changes to a Republican plan backed by President Donald Trump.

Both Democrats and Republicans are expected to try to reshape legislation that dismantles key provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, Democratic former President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement.

The Republican plan unveiled on Monday would scrap Obamacare’s requirement that most Americans obtain medical insurance and replace its income-based subsides with a system of fixed tax credits of $2,000 to $4,000 to coax people to purchase private insurance on the open market.

The plan faces significant hurdles in Congress. Conservative Republican lawmakers and lobbying groups slammed it for looking too much like the Obamacare program they have been trying to kill for years. Democrats criticized it as rolling back health insurance coverage gains for millions of Americans while benefiting the rich by repealing healthcare-related taxes.

Meanwhile, insurers questioned the assumptions underlying Republicans’ claims that the plan will reduce premiums, while some experts said it would encourage younger, healthier people to forgo coverage.

On Wednesday, The House Ways and Means Committee, with jurisdiction over taxes, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees health issues, will each pursue separate “mark-up” sessions to consider amendments to the plan.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has pledged that he will deliver a 218-vote majority needed for passage in the House. But further changes could be made in the Senate, where Republicans can only afford to lose two votes from their thin majority in the face of unified opposition from Democrats.

Conservative Republican Senator Rand Paul on Tuesday declared the plan “dead on arrival” in broadcast interviews and said he wanted a repeal-only option.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady told Fox News Channel late on Tuesday that he would “listen to good ideas to improve it” but said the plan achieves the party’s goals.

“It repeals all the taxes, all the mandates, all the penalties, all the subsidies. This is Obamacare gone and there’s no arguing about that,” Brady said.

But he also said that much of the bill’s fate was in the Senate’s hands and he was “counting on” Senate Republicans to support it without major changes.

Trump, who praised the Republican healthcare plan but said it was “out for review and negotiation,” plans to meet conservative congressional leaders to discuss it on Wednesday, according to a schedule released by the White House.

In an evening Twitter message, Trump said he was “sure” that Senator Paul would “come along with the new and great healthcare program because he knows Obamacare is a disaster!”

(Corrects to say Monday, not Tuesday, in third paragraph.)

(Writing by David Lawder; Editing by Nick Tattersall, Robert Birsel)

‘It’s like kumbaya:’ Trump’s genial private meetings with CEOs jar with public attacks

FILE PHOTO - U.S. President Donald Trump (C) and Vice President Mike Pence (R) meet with pharmaceutical industry representatives at the White House in Washington, U.S. on January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

By Ginger Gibson and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When the bosses of some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies headed to Washington in January to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, it had all the makings of a potentially hostile meeting.

Just weeks before, Trump had sent drug stock prices plummeting after accusing the companies of “getting away with murder” by charging too much for medicines.

But the Trump who greeted chief executives of Johnson & Johnson <JNJ.N>, Novartis <NOVN.S>, Merck <MRK.N>, Eli Lilly <LLY.N>, Celgene <CELG.O> and Amgen <AMGN.O> on Jan. 31 was a surprisingly genial host who even gave them a personal tour of the Oval Office, according to several participants in the breakfast.

“There is no question that it was better than it could have been or we thought it could be,” said one industry insider familiar with the meeting.

Trump did not repeat his public attacks on the industry. Instead, he focused on “outdated” regulations that drive costs up for drugmakers, according to participants interviewed by Reuters. The CEOs left with Trump’s word that he would streamline regulations and reform the high U.S. corporate tax rate.

Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has held at least nine meetings with groups of business leaders, including automakers, airlines, retailers and health insurers. In early morning or late-night tweets and in speeches, Trump has lambasted many of these companies for cost over-runs, or high prices, or foreign manufacturing, often knocking down their share prices. (See the effects of Trump’s tweets on stock prices here http://tmsnrt.rs/2ibdFSF)

But Reuters interviews with nearly a dozen executives and lobbyists who have taken part in these meetings or have been briefed on them reveal a Trump who is very different from his uncompromising and demanding @realDonaldTrump Twitter handle.

When he meets the nation’s top chief executives in person, he is a mix of charm and cajoling. This Trump is flexible and inquisitive, a schmoozer who remembers birthdays and often lavishes praise on their companies, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity so they could freely discuss private meetings.

This private side of Trump sheds light on why many CEOs have expressed confidence that the Republican president is good for business, despite his share-denting public attacks. As recently as Tuesday, Trump tweeted he was working on a system to increase competition in the health industry and lower drug pricing, sending pharma shares lower.

In the White House meetings, Trump focuses much of his talk on cutting regulations, the sources said, underscoring one of his administration’s key priorities – getting rid of rules imposed by his predecessor Barack Obama. He typically asks which regulations are holding businesses back from adding new jobs and promises to resolve the issues, executives say.

“He said one thing for the cameras and the door shuts and then it’s like kumbaya,” said one person who was briefed on a meeting between Trump and a group of CEOs.

“He likes to be seen as engaging and buddy buddy with other big important business leaders,” said this person.

A former businessman, Trump runs his closed-door meetings with CEOs as if they were a corporate board meeting, attendees said. In contrast to his doctrinaire tweets, he likes to seek input from everyone at the table, and compared to former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, conversations are less scripted.

Trump’s approach to these meetings is “one of listening and not lecturing”, said a senior White House official who has participated in industry meetings. “I’ve seen a president who is listening and asking questions to get to how he can create a thriving economy,” the official said.

An Amgen spokeswoman said Trump made it clear that he wanted to work with the company on U.S. job creation and biotech innovation. Representatives of the other drugmakers declined to comment.

SHOWING OFF THE DRAPES

Because so little is known about how Trump interacts privately with CEOs, trade groups and company officials have begun to swap tips on how to approach their meetings with him.

“There is this undercurrent of information sharing about what to expect, what to do,” said one trade group official who prepared CEOs for a recent meeting with Trump. He said he has gotten a flurry of calls from other industries next in line for a White House visit.

At the end of most meetings, Trump leads CEOs into the Oval Office, showing off paintings, sculptures and the furniture, as well as the rug and curtains he has picked out. He also points out a bust of Martin Luther King Jr., which he inherited from Obama. Then he takes a group photo behind the desk.

“He becomes tour guide and brings them over to the Oval Office,” the same official said. “He’s very proud of the Oval Office.”

The White House official said Trump recognized the “awe” of the Oval Office.

CHAIR FOR GM, BIRTHDAY WISH FOR FORD

Chief executives of Detroit’s top three automakers – General Motors Co <GM.N>, Ford Motor Co <F.N> and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV <FCHA.MI> – were pleasantly surprised when they went to the White House for a breakfast with Trump on Jan. 24.

Since his election, Trump has frequently attacked the car companies for building in Mexico and warned U.S. firms would no longer be able to move U.S. jobs abroad “without consequences.”

When Trump entered the Roosevelt Room, he greeted GM CEO Mary Barra with a playful tap on the shoulder as he gently prodded her to add jobs in the United States and later pulled out her chair before the meeting started, a review of the video transcripts of the first part of the meeting shows.

He greeted Ford CEO Mark Fields with a “Happy Birthday. It’s his birthday ladies and gentlemen.” Trump said it was a “great honor” to see Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Trump did not specifically ask them to build plants in the United States – as he had tweeted he would before the meeting – but instead listened to their complaints about regulations and indicated a willingness to help them, people briefed on the meeting said.

Ford declined to comment and referred to Fields’ comments to dealers in January that Trump had asked for a list of regulations that automakers wanted cut or kept.

GM CEO Mary Barra said in a speech last week that Trump “really listened” to the automakers, while Marchionne told reporters at the Geneva auto show on Tuesday that Trump was “quite willing to make our lives easier” in terms of compliance and taxes in order to encourage U.S. job creation.

Trump has been complimentary of his high-profile guests – and at times playful.

After Denise Morrison, chief executive of Campbell Soup <CPB.N>, introduced herself in one of those meetings, Trump quickly responded: “Good soup.”

At another, after Target Corp <TGT.N> CEO Brian Cornell spoke, Trump responded by pronouncing the name of the company as “Tar-Jay,” a common joke to make the retailer sound more fancy.

(Reporting by Ginger Gibson and David Shepardson in Washington, Additional reporting by Emily Stephenson in Washington and Emily Flitter in New York, Editing by Soyoung Kim and Ross Colvin)

Call from Trump interrupts Israeli police questioning Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem March 5, 2017. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool

By Luke Baker

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump interrupted a police inquiry into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was on Monday being questioned for a fourth time over suspicions of corruption.

Not long after sitting down with police investigators at his residence in Jerusalem, one aide said, Netanyahu briefly excused himself to speak with Trump.

“The two leaders spoke at length about the dangers posed by the nuclear deal with Iran… and about the need to work together to counter those dangers,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement issued just before details of the police probe led prime time news.

Netanyahu, 67, is a suspect in two cases, one involving the receipt of gifts from businessmen and the other related to conversations he held with an Israeli newspaper publisher about limiting competition in the news sector in exchange for more positive coverage.

No charges have been brought against Netanyahu, who has been in power since 2009 and has denied wrongdoing.

A police spokeswoman said a statement would be released after the session. “We are in the final stages,” Police chief Roni Elsheich told reporters earlier about the investigation.

Once it is complete, police will decide whether to drop the case or recommend the attorney general bring charges.

As speculation bubbles, politicians from across the spectrum have begun maneuvering, believing early elections will probably have to be called if Netanyahu is indicted.

Such a move would most likely lead to his resignation – in 1993 the Supreme Court set a precedent for ministers to step down if they are charged with corruption.

It is possible someone from his Likud party could replace Netanyahu without a new vote, but many analysts think it unlikely, predicting an election would have to be called for September or November, depending on developments.

The opposition Labour party will hold primaries in July, former defense minister Moshe Yaalon has launched his own party and Avi Dichter, the former head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency and a senior member of Likud, said on Saturday he would consider running for the party leadership.

“I am here to lead and will undoubtedly run for Likud leadership and the premiership,” Dichter was quoted as saying, comments his spokesman said were not a challenge to Netanyahu and referred to future primaries.

SHAKE-UP?

To analysts, the rumblings are clear and foreshadow change after 20 years of Netanyahu dominating the landscape.

“Active politicians and those on the benches waiting to enter, all of them have concluded that early elections are coming because of the investigation,” Menachem Klein, a politics professor at Bar-Ilan University, told Reuters.

“They are starting to prepare themselves.”

Opinion polls show Yair Lapid, the head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, as the strongest candidate for prime minister if Netanyahu goes, but there are a host of others nipping at his heels. Other polls show Netanyahu remains the most popular politician.

In recent weeks, Netanyahu has visited Britain, the United States and Australia. Trips are planned to Russia, China and India. Some critics suggest the travel is a way of delaying questioning. Others say it is about appearing statesman-like.

“His junkets to far-flung places and visits with the leaders of world powers are intended to persuade Israelis that he’s the be-all and end-all,” columnist Yossi Verter wrote in Haaretz. “The deeper the investigations, the more he’ll be in the air.”

Netanyahu’s opponents name a number of party rivals bidding to replace him, including Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Culture Minister Miri Regev and Transport Minister Yisrael Katz. Naftali Bennett of the far-right Jewish Home is seen as someone who could switch to Likud to try to lead.

(Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and John Stonestreet)

Trump backs House healthcare plan, says open to negotiations

The federal government forms for applying for health coverage are seen at a rally held by supporters of the Affordable Care Act, widely referred to as "Obamacare", outside the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center in Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. on October 4, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed a draft Republican proposal to dismantle Obamacare that was unveiled Monday, saying the proposed healthcare legislation was “out for review and negotiation.”

Trump, in a tweet on Tuesday morning, described the bill proposed by fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives as “Our wonderful new healthcare bill.”

The plan, released late on Monday, would undo Democratic President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare law, removing the penalty paid by Americans without insurance coverage and rolling back extra healthcare funding for the poor.

The plan was swiftly criticized by Democrats.

Although Obamacare has long been a common target of Republicans, the proposal also met with skepticism from some in the party who are concerned about the replacement plan’s tax credits for buying health insurance and changes to coverage under Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor.

The plan must pass both the Republican-led House of Representatives as well as the Senate, where it faces a higher bar for passage, making its future uncertain.

Trump was due to meet with the team of House lawmakers charged with tracking support for legislation later on Tuesday as lawmakers on two key House committees prepare to review the bill on Wednesday.

White House Office of Budget and Management Director Mick Mulvaney, speaking in a round of television interviews on Tuesday, said he expected the plan to pass the House before lawmakers leave for recess in mid-April.

Still, Obamacare remains popular with many Americans. Some 20 million previously uninsured Americans gained coverage under the law, although higher insurance premiums have angered some. Nearly half of those gained insurance under an expansion of Medicaid, which would end in 2020 under the Republicans’ new plan, then face funding caps.

Polls have shown most Americans want to maintain Medicaid’s expansion.

Some industry groups have also expressed concern that lawmakers are moving forward without knowing how much the new proposal will cost or how it will affect healthcare coverage. Mulvaney told CBS he expected the Congressional Budget Office’s review of the bill in a few days.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on CBS program “This Morning” that the Republican plan would take millions of people off health insurance rolls. “Show us the numbers about what the impact is personally on people,” she said.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Trump fans stage series of small rallies across U.S.

Supporters of President Donald Trump gather for a "People 4 Trump" rally at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, U.S. March 4, 2017. REUTERS/Mark Makela

By Tim Branfalt

LANSING, Mich. (Reuters) – Supporters of President Donald Trump held a second day of small rallies on Saturday in communities around the country, a counterpoint to a wave of protests that have taken place since his election in November.

Organizers of the so-called Spirit of America rallies in at least 28 of the country’s 50 states had said they expected smaller turn-outs than the huge crowds of anti-protesters that clogged the streets of Washington, D.C., and other cities the day after Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Their predictions appeared to be correct, as they were on Monday when similar rallies were held. In many towns and cities, the rallies did not draw more than a few hundred people, and some were at risk of being outnumbered by small groups of anti-Trump protesters that gathered to shout against the rallies.

“People feel like they can’t let their foot off the gas and we need to support our president,” said Meshawn Maddock, one of the organizers of a pro-Trump rally of about 200 people in Lansing outside the Michigan State Capitol building.

“How can anyone be disappointed with bringing back jobs? And he promised he would secure our borders, and that’s exactly what he’s doing.”

Brandon Blanchard, 24, among a small group of anti-Trump protesters, said he had come in support of immigrants, Muslims and transgender people, groups that have been negatively targeted by Trump’s rhetoric and policies.

“I feel that every American that voted for Trump has been deceived. Any campaign promises have already been broken,” Blanchard said.

In Denver, several dozen people held pro-Trump signs at the top of the steps of the Colorado State Capitol building, according to video footage streamed online.

Two lines of police below them looked out on a small crowd of people protesting the rally at the bottom of the steps.

“No hate! No fear! Immigrants are welcome here!” the anti-Trump protesters shouted up the steps, along with obscene anti-Trump slogans.

The pro-Trump demonstrators were quieter, holding up Trump signs as they milled about the steps, the video showed.

In the nation’s capital, more than a hundred people gathered near the Washington Monument, a short walk from the White House, although the president himself was again in Florida for the weekend.

“He does not hate Latinos, he does hate Hispanics, he does not hate Mexicans,” a woman who described herself as a Mexican-American supporter of Trump said, addressing the crowd from a small stage. “He’s put his life at risk for us.”

(Writing and additional reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Eleven U.S. states to drop suit over transgender bathroom order

An activist waves a rainbow flag during the "Queer and Trans Dance Party" in protest of U.S. President Donald Trump outside of Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., February 26, 2017. REUTERS/Darren Ornitz

(Reuters) – Eleven U.S. states have agreed to drop a lawsuit against an Obama administration order for transgender students to use bathrooms of their choice after the measure was revoked by President Donald Trump, a court filing showed on Thursday.

In a filing in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Justice Department said the states, led by Texas, had agreed to drop the lawsuit, and it was dropping its appeal against a federal judge’s August stay on the Obama directive.

In their suit in May, the states said Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration overstepped its authority by ordering public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms matching their gender identity, rather than their birth gender, or risk losing federal funding.

Obama officials had said that barring students from such bathrooms violated Title IX, the federal law that forbids sex discrimination in education.

But the directive enraged conservatives who say federal civil rights protections cover biological sex, not gender identity. Obama was succeeded by Trump, a Republican, when he left office in January.

Texas was joined in the lawsuit by Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The Arizona Department of Education, Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage and two school districts also were parties to the suit.

A federal judge in August barred adoption of the order during the hearing of the case. The Justice Department appealed the stay, saying it should only apply to the states challenging the order.

Last week, the Trump administration rescinded the order, leaving states and school boards to decide how to accommodate transgender students.

Other lawsuits about the rights of transgender students are being heard in the courts.

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on March 28 addressing the question of whether the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia can block a female-born transgender student from using the boys’ bathroom.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)