Sen. Lindsey Graham said President Donald Trump should not feel rushed by Capitol Hill. | Getty Graham to Trump: Be ready to 'walk away from the frigging table'

President Donald Trump should be prepared to "walk away from the frigging table" if he feels jammed by Congress on health care, said Sen. Lindsey Graham in an interview on Wednesday.

One day after dining with the president, the South Carolina Republican said that Trump should not feel hemmed in by GOP leaders' plans of ramming through a proposal that guts Obamacare, eliminates the law's Medicaid expansion and replaces its subsidies with new tax credits.


While Vice President Mike Pence and even Trump himself have said the White House fully backs a bill written by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and committee leaders, Graham said Trump should be prepared to abandon the effort if he doesn't believe it's the right solution.

“Here’s what I’d do if I were President Trump. Say: 'I’ve got a view of health care, tell me your views, I’m going to try to work to get to yes with as many people as I can realizing almost no Democrats are going to help,'" Graham said. "But just say this: 'I’m not making a deal for a deal’s sake.'"

Graham and other GOP senators like Tom Cotton of Arkansas have said the House is moving too quickly in an effort to pass the bill. McConnell is prepared to jam it through the Senate over the next month if it clears the House, to not allow opposition to build among the left and right over an April recess.

But Graham said Trump should not feel rushed by Capitol Hill. He said the president should be clear and say: "I’m not going to give into demands by members of Congress or the Senate if I don’t believe it’s in the interest of the American people and just walk away from the frigging table."