Chuck Schumer, outlining a new Democratic immigration proposal during a White House dinner with Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi, Trump asked Schumer, What is in it for me?
Reportedly, Schumer responded with a “litany of what he saw as Mr. Trump’s presidential sins”: among them were “pulling out of the Paris climate accord and failing to unequivocally denounce anti-Semitism and racism in the wake of the Charlottesville violence.”
“The time had come, Mr. Schumer declared as Nancy Pelosi, the top House Democrat, nodded in agreement, for the president to prove himself to Democrats if he wanted to do any big deals.”
To the surprise of everyone in the room, Trump “responded positively, if vaguely, and laughed.”
“For the moment, at least, the kitchen-table approach to congressional deal making seems to have broken a legislative stalemate, though questions linger about whether the alliance will last beyond two brief negotiations.”
The reason for Trump’s positive response Schumer said, “He likes us. He likes me, anyway.”
A. He’s angry with Republican leaders and wants to show them he can invite Democratic leaders to the White House for dinner, and make “deals” with them, too.
B. Trump wants to keep everyone off balance by not having any consistent positions on anything or loyalties to anyone.
C. Trump has the attention span of a fruit fly and doesn’t even remember what he said about DACA or the Mexican wall, so he’s happy to make new commitments about them because they’ll also go up in smoke.
D. Trump loves headlines like the one that says Chuck Schumer thinks Trump likes him, because these sorts of headlines are really funny.
E. Trump doesn't know what to do about North Korea, he has no idea of where to go on tax reform, hasn't a clue about next steps on the Affordable Care Act, and doesn't want more headlines about his son and son-in-law and Russian agents, so he'd rather reporters to write stories about DACA, his Mexican wall, and rapprochement with Democrats.
By Maggie Haberman And Glenn Thrush
