What did Donald Trump do today?

He announced his plan to keep the ACA pretty much the way it was, and then unannounced the announcement.

Attentive readers of the news today could have been forgiven for thinking—briefly—that Trump was going to announce a "healthcare plan." Reporting that broke over the weekend said that Trump's plan would essentially restore the Affordable Care Act to the way it was before he refused to renew the subsidies that make it affordable to the 45 million Americans who use it. That was the key sticking point of the enormously protracted government shutdown that ended earlier this month.

Although Democrats didn't force Trump to agree to restore the subsidies then, it became clear that Trump could not afford the political fallout that would come with forcing millions of Americans off of their healthcare plans. Without those subsidies, the average premium is expected to more than double, with Americans in the rural areas that voted heavily for Trump bearing the worst increases of all. 

In recent weeks, Trump had floated a few half-hearted trial balloons for a workaround that didn't involve admitting the status quo of the ACA needed to be maintained, including one in which Americans would get a small stimulus check and then be expected to somehow individually "negotiate" with insurance companies. (Trump touted this idea by noting that it would make Americans "feel like entrepreneurs.")

In other words, Donald Trump shut down the federal government for a record six weeks—causing enormous disruption to government operations, food insecurity, air travel disruptions, and countless other problems—in order to avoid having to do what he now apparently intends to do just two weeks later. 

It's still not entirely clear whether any of this will come to pass. Today's announcement was abruptly canceled, supposedly because of objections from Republicans in Congress, although it may also have been a stalling tactic.

Regardless of when or if Trump manages to actually release the alleged plan, the damage will have been done. Faced with insurance that is suddenly completely unaffordable, many Americans are simply being forced to go without it, risking financial ruin if they actually need healthcare in the coming year. For Americans looking to maintain their coverage after December 31, the open enrollment period ends on December 15th.

Why does this matter?

• Americans being able to keep and afford their healthcare is more important than Donald Trump saving face. 

• It's usually a good idea to know what your policy is and whether you're going to implement it before announcing your policy.