evidence: As president, Donald Trump attempted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but failed. Since running for a second term as president he’s wavered on the issue. In January, for example, Trump repeated his repeal pledge before backtracking on the idea in March, asserting in a post on Truth Social that he instead wanted to make the ACA "better." Indeed, now he and other Republicans claim they want to improve the healthcare program. [...] Yet Trump has been highly critical of the ACA, otherwise known as Obamacare, which has near-universal coverage as its main objective. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump pledged to immediately repeal and replace the ACA. That promise ultimately went unfulfilled. But it’s worth retelling a condensed account of the story of how we got to this point in which Trump appears to no longer set his sights on dismantling the ACA. [...] The perennial problem for Republicans who’ve wanted to get rid of the ACA is that the law contains provisions that are popular with voters. These include guaranteed coverage along with community rating for people with pre-existing health conditions; subsidies for individuals who purchase health insurance on the federally run state exchanges; and permission for those under 26 to remain on their parents’ insurance plans.