Story highlights McConnell's office sought to assuage the White House's concerns Friday

President Donald Trump has also suggested that he was open to working with Democrats

Washington (CNN) The White House was caught off-guard by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's suggestion Thursday that Republicans might need to work with Democrats to prop up Obamacare if they fail to pass repeal and replace legislation.

Two White House officials said Friday they were taken aback by McConnell's comments, which clashed with President Donald Trump's statement a week earlier expressing support for a backup proposal favored by hardline conservatives to pass a standalone repeal bill, with a replacement to come later.

One senior White House official said they were "surprised" by McConnell's comments and said the White House sought assurances from McConnell's office that the top Senate Republican wasn't breaking with the current strategy.

"If my side is unable to agree on an adequate replacement, then some kind of action with regard to the private health insurance market must occur," McConnell told constituents in Glasgow, Kentucky. "No action is not an alternative. We've got the insurance markets imploding all over the country, including in this state."

McConnell's office sought to assuage the White House's concerns, insisting as they have publicly that McConnell's comments were no different from his statement a week earlier when he said "either Republicans will agree and change the status quo, or the markets will continue to collapse and we'll have to sit down."

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