DAY 188: TRUMP LOSES AGAIN: Skinny Obamacare repeal fails and Russia sanctions will be signed

Donald Trump lost for the third time in a row on his attempt at repealing Obamacare. This time Republicans in the Senate, including John McCain, voted against the so-called "skinny repeal", which would've repealed only some of the key parts of the Affordable Care Act, such as the individual mandate, pre-existing conditions and essential benefits.

Three Republican Senators voted against it, with McCain delivering the final and decisive vote against the repeal, for a 49-51 vote on the third Republican attempt at repealing Obamacare.

That happened in the early hours of the day. Later in the day, Trump's second loss took place as the press reported Trump would sign the bipartisan bill establishing sanctions against Russia. From The New York Times:

Mr. Trump had little choice given that the bill passed the Senate on Thursday by a whopping 98-to-2 vote, two days after clearing the House by a 419-to-3 margin. Had Mr. Trump vetoed the legislation, he faced the politically embarrassing prospect of being overridden by a Congress controlled by his own party on a measure to penalize Moscow at the same time his associates are being investigated for their contacts with Russia.

The Kremlin, by the way, apparently knew about Trump's decision, as the Russian government ordered sanctions against US diplomats just hours before Trump was forced to announce his decision to sign the bill.

So that's three Obamacare fails in a week and two fails in a single day for Trump, who self-describes himself as "master negotiator" and supposedly wrote "The Art of the Deal."