Trump-GOP meeting boosts optimism about border deal
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump appears to be taking a more positive view of Capitol Hill talks on border security, according to negotiators who struck a distinctly optimistic tone after a White House meeting with a top Republican on the broad parameters of a potential bipartisan agreement.
Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama said that Thursday’s session in the Oval Office was “the most positive meeting I’ve had in a long time” and that the president was “very reasonable.”
Down Pennsylvania Avenue at the Capitol, the mood among negotiators was distinctly upbeat, with participants in the talks between the Democratic-controlled House and GOPheld Senate predicting a deal could come as early as this weekend.
There’s a Feb. 15 deadline to enact the measure or a stopgap spending bill to avert another partial government shutdown, which neither side wants to reprise. Republicans are especially eager to avoid another shutdown after they were scalded by the last one.
Mr. Trump had previously called the talks a “waste of time,” and he has threatened to declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. But Mr. Shelby said Mr. Trump during their meeting “urged me to get to yes” on an agreement.
Publicly on Thursday Mr. Trump took a wait-andsee approach.
“I certainly hear that they are working on something and both sides are moving along,” Mr. Trump said.
“We’ll see what happens. We need border security. We have to have it, it’s not an option. Let’s see what happens.”
The White House is committed to letting the negotiations play out, with some saying they are “cautiously optimistic” about getting a deal they could live with, said a senior administration official who lacked authorization to publicly discuss internal deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Despite the newfound optimism, Mr. Trump continues to threaten to declare a national emergency to circumvent Congress if lawmakers fail to reach a deal he can stomach.
Still, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close ally of Mr. Trump’s, said Thursday that the deal could be a good starting place — suggesting Mr. Trump could take additional action if needed to secure more wall funding without congressional approval.