Trump Had A Chance At A $2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Too. He Threw A Fit Instead.

[Zorro]

“It’s infrastructure week!”

Now, it really is — or so says Joe Biden. But let us remember an earlier time, before the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill last week, and before Democrats spent every week of the past several months haggling with each other to get their reconciliation package across the finish line.

We’re taking you back to the Trump era, when “infrastructure week” was a punchline rather than a reference to the actual sausage-making behind infrastructure negotiations.

A simpler time? Not so much.

Flash back to May 2019: Trump meets with then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for a second discussion about infrastructure. This summit came about a month after their long-awaited first meeting, which then-White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders would later describe as an “excellent” and “productive” conversation. Although Trump and the Democratic leaders agreed on a $2 trillion investment in roads, bridges and rural broadband, the group didn’t get into any hard specifics during that first meeting.

So the second meeting arrived full of promise. But then, almost immediately, all hope for an infrastructure bill was dashed. The then-President stormed out — after just three minutes. Trump and the Democratic leaders reportedly barely touched on infrastructure before the then-President threw a fit.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/prime/trump-schumer-pelosi-infrastructure-meeting/sharetoken/77hUqPielxnG

[SergeStorms]

1. Typical for TFG.

He had the attention span of a fruit fly on crack. Everything pissed him off. If it wasn't something worshiping his masculinity supposed intelligence, 🤪 or his business "empire" he didn't have time for it.

Worst. President. Ever.

[tanyev]

2. "What do you mean all the roads won't be named after me?"

I presume.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Why Biden succeeded on infrastructure (and Trump didn't)

TFG tied all infrastructure plans to the Congressional democrats agreeing not to investigate his many crimes. That stupidity cost TFG any chance for an infrastructure bill

Link to tweet

In the first two years of Trump's presidency, when his party controlled the House and Senate — by larger margins than Democrats enjoy now — the GOP focused its energies on unnecessary tax breaks and a hapless health care crusade that ultimately failed. After the 2018 midterm election cycle, which left the House in Democratic hands, there were still hopes that an infrastructure deal was possible, and Democratic leaders were prepared to make it happen.

But as regular readers may recall, the then-president decided to attach some strings. In May 2019, however, according to Trump's own version of events, the Republican presented Democrats with an offer: The White House would work on infrastructure if Democrats agreed to stop investigating the then-president's many scandals. Democratic leaders, naturally, said that wasn't an option — they added, of course, that Congress can legislate and conduct oversight at the same time — at which point Trump abandoned the process.

Two years later, the Republican settled on a different kind of idea: If he couldn't have an infrastructure deal, then Biden shouldn't get one, either.

Indeed, Politico reported months ago that the former president was determined to "sabotage" the entire process: "Trump is trying to ensure that his successor, Joe Biden, suffers the indignity of the 'infrastructure week' jokes as well."