"Healthcare is tough," President Donald Trump concluded. | AP Photo Trump: Health care is 'only thing more difficult' than Middle East peace

President Donald Trump sees getting a health care bill through Congress as the "only thing" harder than achieving peace in the Middle East, he told reporters on Air Force One on the way to France overnight.

"We have a thing called health care. I’m sure you haven't been reading about it too much," Trump said, according to excerpts of the midflight conversation that were released on Thursday. "I'd say the only thing more difficult than peace between Israel and the Palestinians is health care."


Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rolled out the latest version of the Senate's health care bill earlier Thursday. The latest version of the bill met with opposition from moderates, leading experts to believe the bill is on life support and just one vote shy of failure.

Trump evoked another image to convey the difficulty in appeasing conservatives and moderates.

"It's like this narrow road that's about a quarter of an inch wide," Trump said. "You get a couple here and you say, great, and then you find out you just lost four over here."

"Health care is tough," the president concluded.