With Democrats expected to unite against the new health care plan, Trump can ill afford defections from within as he seeks to drive through the top legislative priority of his new administration.
While the bill winds its way through Congress in the coming weeks, Trump is using his bully pulpit, powers of persuasion, and deal-making savvy to try and salvage the controversial plan.
"We must act now to save Americans from the imploding Obamacare disaster," Trump said as he sat down with the lawmakers.
"This is the time we're going to get it done."
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The president has spent much of the week huddling with key health care players, including Republican lawmakers who support and oppose the bill, known as the American Health Care Act.
On Wednesday he hosted several conservative groups that have expressed concerns about how the plan to use tax credits for people to buy insurance on the free market is too similar to the subsidies in Obamacare.
The president has signalled he is open to "negotiation" on the AHCA -- a potentially critical acknowledgement as some conservatives in his party warn that the bill will not pass Congress without significant changes.
At the heart of the debate, Trump wants to repeal Obama's landmark reforms and remove the federal government from its role as health care architect, while maintaining the high levels of coverage for Americans entitled to Obamacare.
The chief champion of the plan in Congress, House Speaker Paul Ryan, claimed that millions of US taxpayers would benefit from a rollback of Obamacare's subsidy system.
In a crisp rolled-up-sleeves presentation Thursday, Ryan also sounded a clear warning to Republicans who are considering bucking the president.
"This is the closest we will ever get to repealing and replacing Obamacare," the charismatic 47-year-old said, describing the path forward as "a binary choice" between reform and the status quo.