Healthcare triumph gives Trump reason to rejoice

But new bill faces uncertain fate in Senate amid Democratic opposition

NEW YORK - President Donald Trump had already planned a celebration as he returned to his hometown on Thursday for the first time since his inauguration.

And Republicans in the House of Representatives gave him another reason to enjoy the moment.

Trump flew to New York to join Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull aboard the USS Intrepid to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Before he left the White House, however, he hosted a Rose Garden event to applaud passage of the Republican-sponsored House healthcare law.

Jubilant party members were bused in from Capitol Hill to the White House for an unusually early celebration for the passage of a bill through just one house of Congress.

The legislation squeaked through the House by a vote of 217-213 and faces an uncertain fate against Democratic opposition in the Senate.

Trump said he was "very confident" the measure would pass the Senate and vowed that premiums and deductibles would come down.

"People are suffering so badly with the ravages of Obamacare," he said.

At one point the president turned to the representatives lined up behind him and, suggesting the victory was especially impressive for a novice politician, exclaimed: "Hey, I'm president! I'm president! Can you believe it?!"

House leaders came through with the votes to give Trump a major political win more than a month after Republicans' first attempt to pass a healthcare bill went down in a humiliating defeat.

Known as the American Healthcare Act, the bill has yet to receive a price tag from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and is opposed by a number of healthcare groups, amid concerns it could strip millions of US citizens of their coverage, including those with pre-existing medical conditions.

In New York, Trump and Turnbull spoke aboard the Intrepid to commemorate the World War II battle that reinforced ties between the US and Australia.

Both countries' warships and fighter planes engaged the Japanese during May 4-8, 1942, forcing them to retreat for the first time in the war.

"In those Pacific waters we forged iron bonds between our two countries," Trump said.

"Few peoples in the world share ties in history, affection and culture like the Americans and the Australians.

"Those ties are sealed with the blood of our grandfathers and fathers."

The contentious call

Trump paid tribute to the heroism of the battle's veterans and also pointed to the Intrepid, which survived being hit by four separate Japanese kamikaze attacks during the war, as a need for the US to keep its military strong and pledged that he would continue to boost military spending.

Ahead of his meeting with Turnbull, Trump downplayed the contentious call he had with Turnbull in January, dismissing the reports of tension as "fake news".

The issue was Turnbull's deal with former President Barack Obama for the US to resettle 1,250 refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Asia who are housed in immigration camps on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.