President Donald Trump promised a large crowd of American governors that he would work to redirect power from the federal government to the states.
“We’re going to give you back a lot of the powers that have been taken away from states and great people and great governors, and you can control it better than the federal government because you’re right on top of it,” Trump said.
The president delivered a speech at the National Governors Association meeting on Monday.
He explained that more states needed to compete for the best solutions around the country, citing the importance of citizens holding their state governors accountable.
“They know the best how to spend their dollars and how to take care of the people within each state,” Trump said, referring to state elected officials. “And states are different and people are different. So the governors are going to have a lot more decision-making ability than they have right now.”
Trump spoke about other elements of his economic agenda that would help the states, including infrastructure spending, tax cuts, and fairer trade policies.
Over the weekend, Trump said he met with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Florida Governor Rick Scott to discuss Obamacare.
“We’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare and get states the flexibility that they need to make the end result really, really good for them,” he said.
Trump commented on the complexities of fixing the health care system, after the “disaster” that was Obamacare wreaked havoc on the system.
“The Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable,” he said. “Obamacare has failed.”