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Inslee 'More Concerned' After Meeting Trump In Person

File photo. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said he's ''more concerned'' after meeting with President Donald Trump Monday.
Office of the governor
File photo. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said he's ''more concerned'' after meeting with President Donald Trump Monday.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee used words like “shocked” and “troubled” after attending events with President Donald Trump and members of his administration in Washington, D.C., in recent days. And the Democrat said he’s “more concerned,” not less concerned, after meeting with Trump Monday.

Inslee is in the nation’s capital for meetings of the National Governors Association. He said he went there hoping to get some reassurance from the Trump administration on issues like immigration and healthcare.

“We have not received that assurance,” Inslee said. “In fact, it’s actually been the opposite.”

On immigration, Inslee said Trump did not allay concerns about mass deportations. And Inslee said he was “shocked” by the president’s comments at a meeting of governors on healthcare.

“We have come up with a solution that’s really, really, I think, very good,” Trump said. “Now I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complicated subject. Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated.”

“It was just stunning to have the president who wants to dismantle the whole system to basically show that he doesn’t understand it in its complexity in the first order,” Inslee said. “It was just a disturbing thing to hear him say.”

Inslee said he’s concerned that tens of thousands of Washington state residents could lose healthcare coverage under Trump’s plan with Congressional Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

While Inslee sounded the alarm, Republicans in the Washington legislature said they see opportunity in a healthcare overhaul. State Rep. Matt Manweller told reporters, “You shouldn’t be afraid of change when the status quo is a disaster.”

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy, as well as the Washington State Legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia."