Whether it was “Art of the Deal” posturing or something else entirely, President Trump on Tuesday morning tweeted that he didn’t see a deal coming out of an afternoon meeting scheduled with congressional leaders including Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.
Meeting with “Chuck and Nancy” today about keeping government open and working. 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2017
That set off a back-and-forth that played out in prepared statements and appearances for TV cameras throughout the day. The Democratic leaders backed out of their sit-down. Their request to meet with Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan was rebuffed. Trump, McConnell and Ryan went ahead with their meeting anyway.
But the bottom line is this: The December 8 deadline for funding the government and avoiding a partial shutdown hasn’t changed and while Congress may still agree to a short-term deal, an agreement on a larger 2018 spending bill doesn’t look any closer.
