(CNN) -- President Donald Trump on Friday called for repealing the Affordable Care Act immediately and replacing it later with another health care plan if Republican senators are unable to pass their bill.
"If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date," tweeted Trump, who has frequently called for repeal and replacement to happen simultaneously.
Trump's declaration came shortly after Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska, urged the President in a letter to repeal Obamacare now and replace later. The current Republican plan in Congress is to do both in one massive piece of legislation, though the Senate's bill has struggled to gain necessary GOP support.
"On July 10, if we don't have agreement on a combined repeal and replace plan, we should immediately vote again on H.R. 3762, the December 2015 ObamaCare repeal legislation that the Congress passed but President Obama vetoed," Sasse wrote in the letter. "We should include a year-long implementation delay to give comfort to Americans currently on ObamaCare that a replacement plan will be enacted before expiration."
Sasse quickly approved of Trump's tweet.
"Sounds great, Pres. @realDonaldTrump We are agreed. We need to break the logjam," he tweeted.
Trump's message Friday morning also marked a notable return to his efforts to push his agenda rather than distract from it, as he did on Thursday when he viciously and personally attacked MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski.
Trump was criticized heavily on both sides of the aisle for the outburst, with Sasse saying the tweets were "beneath the dignity" of his office.
'Big surprise'
Trump's suggestion on Friday echoes an earlier plan by Hill Republican leaders to repeal Obamacare and provide a transition period during which Congress would write a new law.
But many Republicans opposed that idea, and along with Trump calling for passing both simultaneously, the party shifted tactics.
Repealing Obamacare without an immediate replacement plan would likely cause massive destabilization to an insurance market already unnerved by Washington's efforts to address health care. Many insurers are asking for another round of steep rate increases, and others aren't even willing to return to the exchanges at all.
But some companies say the market is stabilizing, so they plan to stay in the game and charge only a little bit more next year.
The Affordable Care Act was troubled even before Trump took office, but the Republicans' quest to dismantle it has made things worse. Trump has caused confusion about whether he'll continue key components of the law. The two at the top of the list: the mandate that everyone have insurance and the cost-sharing subsidies for lower-income Americans.
Repealing Obamacare outright was the least popular option as House Republicans began negotiating on health care. According to a March CNN/ORC poll, just 17% of Americans favored repealing parts of the bill as opportunities arose, regardless of whether a replacement was ready, including only 26% of Republicans.
Meanwhile, the future of the GOP health care efforts remains unclear. Senate Republican leaders scuttled plans for a vote on health care reform earlier this week as GOP leaders criticized the bill, but Trump was optimistic in his outlook Wednesday.
"We're going to have a big surprise," Trump said during a brief photo opportunity with reporters as he welcomed the World Series-winning Chicago Cubs at the White House. "We're going to have a great, great surprise."
Trump declined to say what the surprise would be, but his optimism contrasted significantly with the nine Republican senators publicly expressing their opposition to the bill the President is championing.
The White House can only afford to lose two of the 52 Republicans in the Senate to pass the legislation.
