I think I understand what Donald J. Trump is trying to do to persuade his Republican colleagues in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

The president said a vote on Friday is the drop-dead event. If House of Representatives Republicans do not have the votes to enact the GOP alternative, then that’s it.

The Affordable Care Act will stand. President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy initiative will remain. The president will move on. He’s done negotiating.

Don’t you get it?

Trump is now trying to persuade balky Freedom Caucus Republicans to vote for the American Health Care Act, or else face the prospect of failing to deliver on the president’s top-drawer campaign promise.

Will he do it? I have no clue. Whether he goes through with his threat likely depends on whether someone gets his attention long enough to persuade him to keep up the fight.

The AHCA is not an improvement over the ACA. The Congressional Budget Office says the AHCA will throw 24 million Americans off their health care plans. GOP lawmakers have been hearing from their constituents for weeks now about how much they hate the Republican alternative to the Affordable Care Act.

Trump throws down the gauntlet

Now it has come down to whether House Republicans actually care enough about health care “reform” to enact an alternative to what’s already on the books. It’s also an open question about whether the president actually cares about health care — at all!

Does he want to enact an actual improvement over the ACA or does he simply want to replace a health care plan promoted and pushed forward by his immediate predecessor? Does he really care about what the alternative contains?

Trump said he is done negotiating with his fellow Republicans. Either pass what’s on the table, he is saying, or we’ll just forget the whole thing.

What a way to lead.