U.S. president, Democrats hone art of the deal
Republicans taken aback by new rapport
WASHINGTON — Frustrated with his own party’s leaders in Congress, U.S. President Donald Trump talked up his suddenly cozier relationship with Democrats on Thursday, raising the prospect of new deals on government spending and even posting one of his tweets at their behest.
“I think that’s a great thing for our country,” Trump said, describing his new and “different relationship” with Democrats.
In public, Republican leaders glossed over the striking turn of events, but lawmakers in both parties were privately puzzling over how Trump’s approach might affect the fate of the party’s agenda. Some conservatives openly criticized the dealmaking, ideologically flexible president who defied Republican leaders in striking an agreement Wednesday to keep the U.S. government operating and raise the nation’s debt limit for just three months.
Democrats, privately leery about how long this new Trump might last, were upbeat in public.
As for Trump, after a series of legislative failures he has fumed to associates for months about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan. On Thursday, he predicted a “much stronger coming together” of the two parties and pronounced himself ready to work with Democrats.
“I think that’s what the people of the United States want to see: They want to see some dialogue, they want to see coming together to an extent at least,” he told reporters.
Trump, a longtime Democrat who lived most of his life in New York City, has never closely adhered to Republican orthodoxy and has shown a willingness to shift positions to seal deals. But his embrace of Democrats in recent days has been startling.
He overruled Republican leaders and his own treasury secretary on a debt-ceiling agreement. He offered reassurances on Thursday to young immigrants at the request of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, tweeting that those covered by the federal program he has promised to end “have nothing to worry about” over the next six months.
Trump also signalled a willingness to permanently do away with debt-ceiling votes and move ahead on a stand-alone measure on the young immigrants, two suggestions opposed by most Republicans.
Trump’s unhappiness with Republican leaders has been building for months.
He has harshly criticized McConnell and Ryan for failing to pass legislation to repeal the Obama health-care law and for not doing more to shield him from the ongoing Russia investigations.
Ryan played down the tensions, saying the deal that Trump cut with Democrats on spending, the debt and hurricane Harvey made sense as the nation deals with Harvey and hurricane Irma.