Story highlights McConnell praised Trump's appointments as changing the country

He deferred to Trump on a bipartisan health care bill

Washington (CNN) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that President Donald Trump is "getting a lot more done" than his criticism of the slow-moving Senate would suggest.

"I think he's getting a lot more done than he's giving everybody credit for," McConnell said. "I think his appointments, as I've said earlier, are absolutely changing the country."

McConnell's remarks come as Trump continues to criticize the news media for what he has repeatedly called unfair coverage that ignores his positive achievements, including what he says is the impact of his policies on the US economy. Trump has tended to describe his plans and accomplishments in superlatives, claiming credit for the low unemployment rate and rallying stock market.

McConnell's comments Sunday played into that view, and also come as Trump again on Monday pinned the blame for a lack of progress on Republican agenda items, such as health care reform, on the Senate rather than himself.

"We are not getting the job done," Trump said when a reporter asked about comments his former White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, made at the Value Voters Summit in Washington last weekend. "And I am not going to blame myself, they are not getting the job done. We had health care approved, and then you had the surprise vote by John McCain. We have had other things happen, and they are not getting the job done, and I can understand where Steve Bannon is coming from."

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