Inside the tweet that broke Trump's day, again
The White House played the president's online taunts of Democratic leaders Pelosi and Schumer as a strategic effort to reassure his base — at risk of a government shutdown.
By ANNIE KARNI and ELIANA JOHNSON 11/28/2017 08:07 PM EST
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Nearly three months after Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi left a Chinese food dinner at the White House gloating about an immigration deal, the Democratic leaders on Tuesday abruptly canceled a follow-up sit-down in response to a tweet warning that President Donald Trump was more interested in playing to his base than playing ball.
“Meeting with ‘Chuck and Nancy’ today about keeping government open and working,” Trump tweeted Tuesday morning. “Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don’t see a deal!”
Senior White House officials defended Trump’s Tuesday tweet, arguing that it was the president’s strategic attempt to reassure immigration hawks that this time, Democrats weren’t going to stroll in and extract promises from Trump without making some painful concessions themselves. Others saw it as a potential overcorrection for a president who needs the support of Democrats in Congress to stave off a government shutdown.
“Donald Trump wasn’t just elected because of what he said to his base,” said Stu Loeser, a former Schumer aide. “He was also elected because he said he was a dealmaker who could fix Washington. Sitting alone at the table today, he looks like the emperor who can’t close.”
White House officials, however, insisted that the president had won a game of chicken by prompting the Democrats to bail at the last minute — and that their absence at the planned meeting made them look like they were the ones obstructing negotiations.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/28/trump-twitter-schumer-pelosi-shutdown-267816
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