It was widely reported, and confirmed by all parties involved, that President Trump stormed out of a meeting with top Democrats on Wednesday, having reached his breaking point with Schumer and Pelosi and their refusal to acknowledge the serious crisis unfolding at our southern border. Reportedly willing to offer the Democrats quite a bit in terms of negotiation – and even willing to entertain the thought of ending the shutdown without a deal in place, Trump was outraged when Pelosi admitted that even if he opened the government back up, she would never vote for funding the wall.
From The New York Times:
After offering refreshments, Mr. Trump told the group that he appreciated the work everyone had put in and that he believed the standoff could be settled in less than 45 minutes.
The atmosphere turned icy quickly as Mrs. Pelosi responded by telling the president, “You need to open up the government,” according to people familiar with the meeting. Democrats said they made a plea for Mr. Trump to reopen the government for 30 days to continue negotiations over border security.
At one point, Mr. Trump told the group, “I don’t know why I’m doing this. I didn’t want to do this meeting,” according to Mr. Durbin, who said Mr. Trump said he was talked into the meeting by his aides.
“It was pretty clear his heart was not in it,” Mr. Durbin said. “He’s getting impatient, he believes it should’ve been resolved a long time ago in his favor, but the fact is he doesn’t have the support of the Democrats, he doesn’t have the support of the country and Republicans are getting uneasy.”
This last bit is from one of Pelosi’s chief cohorts, so take his analysis of the situation with a grain of salt. The truth is that once it became clear that Pelosi was still digging her heels in on the idea of funding the wall, Trump said, “Bye bye,” and walked out of the meeting. That’s what happened, and it’s been confirmed by everyone of note inside the room. We don’t doubt that Durbin is right when he describes Trump as “impatient,” but he’s wildly mistaken if he thinks the president doesn’t have the support of the country. Poll after poll has shown that Trump’s argument – that we have a crisis at the border – resonates well beyond the president’s base.
Republicans have a history of coming up with the short end of the stick when it comes to these shutdown standoffs, and we’d be lying if we said we weren’t concerned about that happening this time as well.
But there is a difference this time, and that difference is Donald J. Trump.
He knows how much is riding on this moment in his presidency, and he also knows how important it is that we take meaningful steps to change things – drastically – at the border. Democrats who expect him to give in because of all the negative press may be surprised.
If Trump is used to anything two years into his tenure, it’s negative press.
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