(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump told SenateRepublicans Wednesday they should stay in Washington until theyrepeal Obamacare, two days after GOP efforts to enact a newhealth-care law collapsed.

“We can repeal, but we should repeal and replace, and weshouldn’t leave town until this is complete -- until this bill ison my desk and until we all go over to the Oval Office,” thepresident told senators at the beginning of a lunch meeting at theWhite House. “I’ll sign it and we can all celebrate to theAmerican people.”

“Any senator who votes against debate is really telling Americayou are fine with Obamacare,” Trump said.

Public opposition from four Republicans on Monday sank SenateMajority Leader Mitch McConnell’s repeal and replacementlegislation, which he drafted mostly in secret. But Republicansenators came out of the meeting with the president saying there isrenewed discussion of McConnell’s version.

John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republicans said, “Ithink based on the discussions we had today that there’s moreoptimism that we could vote on a repeal and replace bill, ratherthan just a repeal bill." He added, "But if there’s not agreementthen we’ll still vote on the motion to proceed" to the simplerepeal measure.

After meeting with the president, McConnell told reporters he’ssticking with his plan to hold a procedural vote on health care early nextweek, likely aimed at debating a simple repeal of Obamacarewith a two-year delay. The Senate Budget Committee posted the textof a repeal amendment with a delay Wednesday afternoon.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday therepeal-only measure would result in 17 million more people withouthealth insurance in 2018, rising to 32 million more withoutcoverage by 2026. Premiums for individual policies wouldapproximately double by 2026, while about three-fourths of thepopulation would live in areas with no insurers in the individualmarket, according to the CBO.

GOP holdouts

Four Republican senators had previously said they’ll vote toblock any repeal that lacks an adequate replacement. At least oneof them, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, reiterated thatposition after the meeting with Trump.

Another, Susan Collins of Maine, said she has other plans andwon’t attend a meeting that administration officials plan Wednesdaynight to try to persuade GOP holdouts. McConnell said the meetingwill be held by Vice President Mike Pence, Health and HumanServices Secretary Tom Price and Seema Verma, administrator forMedicare and Medicaid.

Senator Rob Portman of Ohio said he’s "in the same position I’vebeen in for weeks, which is trying to improve the bill."

McConnell can afford to lose no more than two Republicans toadvance the measure.

"There is a large majority in our conference that want todemonstrate to the American people that they want to keep thecommitment they made in four straight elections to repealObamacare," said McConnell of Kentucky. "No harm is done by gettingon the bill."

Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said the meeting will focus onthe concerns of Republicans from states that accepted Obamacare’sexpansion of Medicaid. "It’s my sincere hope we get it over theline,” he said.

The Senate was originally scheduled to go on its traditionalAugust recess on July 29, but McConnell delayed it by two weeks. Hedidn’t respond to questions about whether he would keep the Senatein session until it passed a health-care bill, as Trumprequested.

‘Close again’

“We are very close again,” Trump said.

Trump directed some joking but pointed remarks to the senatorswhose opposition sunk McConnell’s plan. To Jerry Moran of Kansasand Mike Lee of Utah, he called them “my friends, they really wereand are, they might not be very much longer.”

He also delivered a veiled threat to opponents. Speaking to DeanHeller of Nevada, who opposed the first version of McConnell’sbill, Trump suggested the voters in Nevada would appreciate himvoting to replace Obamacare.

“He wants to remain a senator doesn’t he?” Trump asked.

Significant setback

The inability to deliver on seven years of GOP promises torepeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would be the biggestfailure yet for Trump and Republicans since they won control ofCongress and the White House.

"I’m not going to own it," Trump told reporters at the WhiteHouse on Tuesday.

The president’s approach to the issue has shifted wildly withtweets calling for various strategies in recent days.

After it became clear Monday that the Senate health-care billdid not have the 50 votes needed for passage, Trump saidRepublicans should vote to repeal Obamacare immediately then comeup with a replacement plan later.

By Tuesday morning, Trump took to Twitter to support a differenttactic: allowing the current health-care system to collapse beforetaking action to fix it.

On Wednesday, Trump was once again extolling the virtues of theSenate’s original repeal-and-replace bill, and his allies weresaying the president was likely to rally Republicans around thatlegislation.

‘Even better’ plan

“The Republicans never discuss how good their healthcare billis, & it will get even better at lunchtime,” he tweeted.

The Trump administration will make cost-sharing reductionpayments for July, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanderstold reporters at a briefing on Wednesday. The payments are mademonthly to insurers, and help reduce out-of-pocket costs for lowincome people. Their legitimacy is the subject of a court dispute,and the administration has mulled cutting them off as a way offorcing Democrats to the negotiating table over the Affordable CareAct.

Republicans control the Senate 52-48. McConnell hasn’t found away to win over conservative and moderate holdouts seeking to pullthe health care measure in opposite directions -- withconservatives demanding a fuller repeal of Obamacare and moderatesseeking to preserve aid to Medicaid patients and people withpre-existing conditions.

Several senators have made clear that they want GOP leaders topursue an alternative that would require working with Democrats,who are united against a repeal of Obamacare but say they want towork with Republicans to shore up health insurance markets.

McConnell of Kentucky has spoken of moving to a scaled-back,bipartisan measure, and the Senate Health Committee plans hearingsin the coming weeks on how to stabilize markets.