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POTOMAC FALLS, Va. President Donald Trump brought Sen. Rand Paul to his Virginia golf course on Sunday, planning to discuss health care with the outspoken critic of the failed plan to repeal and replace so-called Obamacare.

The outing to Trump National Golf Club came hours after Trump tweeted that talks on replacing the law have been going on and "will continue until such time as a deal is hopefully struck."

He added that anyone who thinks the effort is dead "does not know the love and strength in R Party!"

White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said Trump would be golfing and talking policy, including health care, with Paul, a licensed ophthalmologist, and budget director Mick Mulvaney.

Trump vanquished Paul in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. The Kentucky senator came out strongly against the House GOP legislation, and its collapse humiliated Trump in the early days of his administration.

After the outing, Paul said that "I think the sides are getting closer and closer together, and I remain very optimistic that we will get Obamacare repealed."

Trump and aides had argued for a vote in the final hours of negotiations around the bill, but Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan ultimately agreed to pull it, rather than face a loss if it had been put to a vote.

In an interview with the Financial Times published online Sunday, Trump said the bill was pulled because "I didn't want to take a vote. It was my idea."

Still, Trump said that "one way or the other, I promised the people great health care. We are going to have great health care in this country. Now, it will be in one form or another. It will be a repeal and replace of Obamacare which is the deal that is being negotiated now."

It is not clear how a new health care bill will come together, with deep divides among Republicans and little interest in cooperation from Democrats. Since the bill went down, Trump has repeatedly lashed out at members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who contributed to the defeat.

On CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, a member of the caucus, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, responded to those attacks. He said "tweets and statements and blame don't change facts. And the facts remain the same. When you look at the document, when you look at the legislation, it doesn't repeal Obamacare."

A Secret Service agent opens the door of the presidential vehicle for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, left, on the South Lawn driveway at the White House, April 2, 2017. Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Trump told the Financial Times that members of the caucus were "friends of mine." But he added: "if we don't get what we want, we will make a deal with the Democrats and we will have in my opinion not as good a form of health care, but we are going to have a very good form of health care and it will be a bipartisan form of health care."

The Sunday golf outing was not unusual for Trump, who has visited his golf courses in Virginia and Florida repeatedly since taking office. Sometimes these rounds incorporate official business, like when he played with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida.

For years, Trump railed against Obama when he was in office for golfing. Candidate Trump said if he won the election he'd probably be too busy to golf and would only play with people with whom he was looking to make deals.

And specifically regarding golf and Sen. Paul, Trump has been even more vitriolic:

"Recently, Rand Paul called me and asked me to play golf," Trump told

"Senator Paul does not mention that after trouncing him in golf I made a significant donation to the eye center with which he is affiliated."

Follow this link:
On Golf Course, Trump Talks Health Care With Dr. Rand Paul - NBCNews.com

I mean, maybe? But the reality is that Trump said a lot -- and I mean a LOT -- of nasty things about Paul during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Here's a brief walk down memory lane, ranked in order of my favorites. (All GIFs courtesy of the remarkable Brenna Williams.)

Trump tweeted this gem in August 2015 following a conference call by Paul's campaign in which the Kentucky Senator described the real estate mogul as a "fake conservative." (More on Paul's greatest hits on Trump below!)

Undermine Paul's very presence on stage? Check. Note his low poll numbers? Check.

Trump put out this statement on Aug. 12, 2015, following Paul releasing a negative ad that called into question Trump's Republican credentials. The cherry on the top of this quote? Trump noting that he had made a "significant donation" to an eye center with which Paul is affiliated.

Ouch.

Knowing condescension is the best kind of condescension.

Paul doesn't have as many amazing putdowns on Trump as the President has on him, but he may have the single best one of their "relationship."

"Donald Trump is a delusional narcissist and an orange-faced windbag," Paul said during an appearance on Comedy Central in January 2016.

"A speck of dirt is way more qualified to be president."

A speck of dirt!

Continue reading here:
The long, strange and totally nasty history of Donald Trump and Rand Paul - CNN

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President Donald Trump golfed with Sen. Rand Paul this afternoon, together with White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.

We had a great day with the president. Played some golf, and we talked and we talked about a little bit of health care, Paul told reporters after the game. I continue to be very optimistic that we are getting closer and closer to an agreement on repealing Obamacare.

The group golfed at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virgina, not far from Washington, D.C.

Paul remains one of the toughest opponents of the House drafted bill to replace Obamacare, asserting that it doesnt sufficiently repeal the bill. Earlier in the week, Paul met with journalist Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report to discuss the future of the country.

Intriguing lunch in hill office of Americas best senator, Rand Paul, Drudge wrote afterwards on Twitter. Hes bold, brave and has somehow kept his heart in such a corrupt city.

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Rand Paul Very Optimistic About Repealing Obamacare After ...

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Sen. Rand Paul followed a bomb-blaster of a tweet about Susan Rices supposed spying on [the] Trump campaign with a call for her to come to Capitol Hill, take the oath and testify.

She wont. But she should. At the very least, itd be good for the former Barack Obama national security adviser to explain just why she wanted to unmask the names of those in intelligence reports tied to President Donald Trump.

I dont think we should discount how big a deal it was that Susan Rice was looking at these, and she needs to be asked, did President Obama ask her to do this? Was this a directive from President Obama? I think she ought to testify under oath on this, Paul said to reporters, The Hill noted. I think she should be asked under oath, did she reveal it to the Washington Post.

And heres the kicker; Paul put it bluntly.

I think they were illegally basically using an espionage tool to eavesdrop or wiretap if you want to use the word generally on the Trump campaign, he said.

Thats an astonishing accusation but an even more astonishing action, if true. And Rice holds it within her power to clarify.

Paul, shortly after learning of the report from Eli Lake of Bloomberg the one that headlined Susan Rice Sought Names of Trump Associates in Intel tweeted this: Smoking gun found! Obama pal and noted dissembler Susan Rice said to have been spying on Trump campaign.

Paul has used this latest intel-tied revelation to platform a new push for reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, FISA, that lets U.S. spy agencies tap into conversations and messaging of non-Americans who are outside the United States, absent going through the constitutional warrant process. Section 702, which gives intel this authority, is due for renewal in Congress in the coming months.

Its been highly criticized by privacy, civil and constitutional rights groups as intrusive and illegal because of its potential to rope in unsuspecting and innocent America citizens on U.S. soil in the surveillance.

Paul called for such intel gathering to be outlawed.

I think it is inappropriate and it should be illegal, he said, The Hill reported. I dont think you should be allowed to listen to Americans conversations without a warrant. They are doing it without a warrant. They are targeting a foreigner and because they are targeting a foreigner they are gathering all of this information on Americans.

And heres why it matters to the current Susan Rice v. Donald Trump issue: Government often operates on a self-serving basis.

Is there a possibility that Susan Rice was political motivated? Lets ask her why she was opening up all of the conversations with Trump transition figures, Paul said.

Yes, lets ask. And if Rice wont answer, that silence will tell volumes.

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Rand Paul calls for Susan Rice to testify under oath - Washington Times

Before huddling with members of the House Freedom Caucus Monday, Sen. Rand Paul said he was pushing President Donald Trump on a new construct for the repeal and replacement of the 2010 health care law.

Paul, a Kentucky Republican, suggested a possibility of keeping some subsidies in the 2010 law in place rather than replacing them with a new bundle of tax credits, a move that could keep conservatives from basically voting for new entitlements.

I think the compromise could be keeping some of the underlying things in Obamacare, some small percentage of them, in order to placate the people who want that, but not affirmatively putting in the bill and saying to conservatives you have to vote for a new federal refundable tax credit, a new entitlement program to many of the conservatives, Paul said.

It would be mostly a repeal bill, with the replacement aspect being that youre leaving some underlying law in place, Paul said.

That would be a departure from what Paul and the Freedom Caucus have pushed for recently. Earlier in March,Paul and House Freedom Caucus founding member Jim Jordan of Ohio pushed legislation in both chambers that would mirror the repeal bill that Congress passed through the budget reconciliation process in 2015 but that President Barack Obama vetoed.

GOP Divisions Haunt Health Care Effort

Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows of North Carolina endorsed separate votes: One on outright repeal of the 2010 law and a separate vote on a replacement package.

Pauls latest suggestion opened the door to not repealing key aspects of Obamas signature domestic achievement.

To conservatives minds, the replacement tax credits have simply been an entitlement program thats similar to Obamacare subsidies. Well, if theres $400 billion of new ones in [Speaker Paul D. Ryans] plan, why not leave $400 billion of Obamacare in place, Paul said. It could be exactly the same dollar amount, but its just not in the bill referring to creating something new that conservatives find objectionable.

Paul said while he came away from a Sunday round of golf with Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney thinking the White House was not yet looking for a new direction.

I think where they are still trying to make it work with what they have, Paul said. With very small tweaks to the existing bill.

I think really their opinion is they still want to work with what they have, Paul said.

Paul stressed he was not only talking to House and Senate conservatives, but also to the moderate Republican bloc that helped sink the bill in the House, including Tuesday Group Co-chairman Charlie Dent, R-Pa.

Were also trying to reach out to some other people, Paul said. I had a very good conversation with Charlie Dent today, talking what are some, you know, are there common areas?

I think there are one of two possibilities on health care, Paul said. I think theyre banging a square peg into a round hole right now. And thats what the bill is a square peg in a round hole. They either keep banging hard enough that they get the votes for it kind of as is, or we take a new approach, Paul said.

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Rand Paul Proffers Kinda, Sorta Obamacare Repeal, Replace - Roll Call