U.S. President Donald Trump is meeting with people he describes as “victims” of the nation’s health care law Thursday in the Midwestern city of Cincinnati, Ohio, as he addresses his plan to overhaul the country’s infrastructure.
A White House statement said rebuilding the infrastructure is “a critical pillar of the president’s agenda to promote job creation and grow the U.S. economy.”
Trump will speak at a marina on the Ohio River to discuss his $1 trillion plan to repair the country’s aging bridges, roads and waterways. The speech comes as the White House attempts to work through a series of distractions by focusing on Trump’s legislative agenda.
The address is being delivered on the eve of former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony Thursday before Congress as the White House faces new allegations of efforts by Trump to influence a probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
The White House hopes to execute the infrastructure plan primarily through public-private partnerships. It has proposed funding the overhaul with $200 billion in tax breaks over nine years that would theoretically result in $1 trillion worth of construction.
The White House is promoting this week as “Infrastructure Week” with a series of events that began Monday when the president announced plans to privatize the federal government’s air traffic control system.
Rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure was initially believed to have been supported by Republican and Democratic lawmakers. However, many Democrats are opposed to Trump’s plans for financing the overhaul, arguing they would result in taxpayer-funded corporate profits with the costs absorbed by consumers.
The president also discussed plans to overhaul the country’s health insurance law, commonly known as Obamacare. The House of Representatives approved a Republican replacement bill early last month, and the Senate is drafting its own version of the bill.
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