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A White House official said on Thursday that Mr. Trump was specifically referring to a bill to extend emergency funding to the multibillion-dollar Veterans Choice program, which pays for veterans to receive care from private doctors if they face long wait times or travel distances.

Congressional aides said on Thursday that there had indeed been a short-lived effort late last month to tie the debt ceiling language to the Choice bill. But with the veterans program set to run out of money by mid-August, apparent opposition from conservative budget hard-liners and a congressional recesses looming, the idea was never given serious consideration.

The Choice legislation ultimately passed both the House and the Senate unanimously, shortly before each chamber began its summer recess. Mr. Trump signed it into law on August 12.

Mr. McConnell said on Monday that there was no chance Congress would fail to raise the debt ceiling by the end of September. The relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnell has been disintegrating over the summer and could jeopardize urgent legislation when Congress returns from its August recess. Mr. Trump has been publicly critical of Mr. McConnell for not being able to repeal and replace President Barack Obamas signature health care legislation. He repeated his criticism in another tweet on Thursday: The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed! That should NEVER have happened!

Mr. Trump shifted his focus on Twitter briefly to the Obama administration on Thursday. The president shared a post from one of his supporters that was critical of Mr. Obama.

And Mr. Trump called out Mr. Obamas director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr., who has publicly questioned whether Mr. Trump is fit to be president.

I really question his ability to his fitness to be in this office, Mr. Clapper said on CNN this week.

Mr. Trump also lashed out at Fake News on Thursday for reports on the different styles of his recent public speeches.

Several news outlets, including The New York Times, wrote articles comparing his speaking style at recent appearances, including in Arizona at a campaign-style rally on Tuesday and at an American Legion convention on Wednesday night.

Kitty Bennett contributed research.

A version of this article appears in print on August 25, 2017, on Page A13 of the New York edition with the headline: Taking Aim At Obama, Republicans And Others.

See the article here:
Trump's Morning Targets: McConnell, Ryan, Obama and the Media - New York Times