Republicans withdraw healthcare bill in blow to Trump

Short of support from fellow Republicans, House Speaker Paul Ryan pulls legislation meant to replace Obamacare.

Republicans in the US House of Representatives, short of support from their own party, have withdrawn a healthcare bill drafted to repeal and replace "Obamacare".

House Speaker Paul Ryan said he recommended that it be withdrawn because he did not have the votes to pass it, and President Donald Trump agreed.

Just a day earlier, Trump had demanded a House vote and said if the measure lost, he would move on to other issues.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that "we were very close" and tried to blame Democrats for the failure to pass the legislation - even though his Republican Party controls both the House and the Senate.

"We were just probably anywhere from 10 to 15 votes short," Trump said. "With no Democrat support we couldn't quite get there."

He also said he was surprised and disappointed by the opposition from the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative Republicans who led the resistance against the legislation.

Ryan told reporters that Obamacare will now stay in place for the foreseeable future.

Pulling the bill he had promoted was "a setback, no two ways about it," he said, calling it a "disappointing day".

Democrats, on the other hand, called it a "victory" for the American people.