When Trump’s proposal for repealing and replacing Obamacare failed in July 2017, the president fumed publicly and privately about the late Republican senator John McCain’s dramatic midnight vote against it. But he still branded it as a gift in disguise, claiming that the outcome would ultimately work out to his benefit.

“We had one man that after campaigning for eight years, he decided to go thumbs down at two o’clock in the morning,” Trump said during a May rally in Pennsylvania. “That’s all right, but we’ll end up — will end up with even better, because we have plans that are even better than that, so that’s good. Sometimes, when you have adversity, it works out actually better.”

It was the second time Trump had rebranded a failure on health care as an optimistic pitch. When House Republicans pulled their first repeal-and-replace bill in March 2017 after Trump’s efforts to whip votes fell short, the president claimed that the ultimate outcome would be better.

“ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great health care plan for THE PEOPLE,” Trump said in a tweet. “Do not worry!”