Deal, Mr Trump?

WAS President Trump’s bipartisan hurricane relief/debt ceiling/government funding deal last week simply a “bipartisan moment”, as the House Speaker Paul Ryan put it?

Probably, given this president’s pattern of poor impulse control and of reverting to base politics. But it’s tempting nevertheless to imagine what Mr Trump might achieve if he could see beyond momentary, tactical wins.

Hints of bipartisan consensus are popping up in Congress around enough significant issues to suggest that a determined, strategically minded president – yes, we know, but bear with us – could strike a number of important deals.

The legislation Mr Trump signed on Friday provides $15 billion for hurricane and flooding victims, and includes measures to keep the government funded until December 8, instead of September 30, and to extend the nation’s borrowing authority.

The extension delays the type of Tea Party-led showdown over spending and debt that has shut down the government before, but it also forces Republicans to engage in this politically damaging fight on the eve of an election year.

Mr Trump struck this bargain under the disapproving noses of his party’s own leaders, Mr Ryan and the Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, in an Oval Office meeting with his new pals “Chuck and Nancy”: the Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and the House minority leader Nancy Pelosi. Gleeful at media coverage of his shockingly bipartisan move, Mr Trump called Mr Schumer last week to talk about keeping up the good work.

Mr Trump and his new Democratic friends could work on more.

They could agree that a “wall” on the Mexican border is a dumb idea and focus on fixing the broken immigration system.

We have no real reason to expect his bipartisan impulse to harden into practice.

But we still hope that the president, who has said making deals is how “I get my kicks”, might want to turn last week’s one-off into a streak.