On Wednesday, Trump met with House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
In a move that President Trump’s most “conservative followers consider their worst nightmare,” Trump sided with Democrats -- even though Republican and Democratic leadership were sitting side by side in the same room -- and cut a deal that will keep the government funded, to pass Hurricane relief funding, ensure the rapid approval of nearly $8 billion in recovery funds for victims of Hurricane Harvey, to extend the debt limit, and to pass a continuing resolution that would include all of it to December 15.
If it “. . . did not yet represent the breaking point between the president and his core, hard-right base of support, it certainly put him closer than he has ever been to tipping his fragile political coalition into open revolt.”
For the most part, conservatives were stunned and irate. They denounced the news that Trump had agreed to rely on Democratic votes to win congressional approval for a temporary extension of the debt ceiling and funding of the government until mid-December.
“These are the moments that can derail President Trump’s presidency,” said David Bozell, the president of For America and a Trump supporter.
Adam Brandon, the president of FreedomWorks, said, “Talk about burning bridges with the grassroots.”
“It’s just a betrayal of everything we’ve been talking about for years as Republicans,” said former Republican Senator Jim DeMint.
And, McConnell made clear that it was Trump’s deal -- not his and Ryan’s -- but that he would nevertheless support it.
By making a deal with Democrats to raise the debt ceiling and give disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Harvey, Trump has split Republicans down the middle.
Corporate and Wall Street Republicans are pleased because they didn’t want a fight over the debt ceiling, and now the way is cleared for big tax cuts on corporations and the wealthy.
But anti-establishment Republicans -- the “Freedom Caucus, Tea Party, and Breitbart News enthusiasts -- are furious. And they’re vowing not to support a big corporate tax cut, especially one that enlarges the budget deficit.
Trump is no dealmaker. He’s a conman. Anti-establishment Republicans should have known all along.
By Jeremy W. Peters And Maggie Haberman
