Trump to Democrats: No deals on infrastructure, drug prices until they drop investigations
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Trump to Democrats: No deals on infrastructure, drug prices until they drop investigations
Michael Collins, John Fritze and Eliza Collins, USA TODAY 24 minutes ago WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump informed Democratic leaders Wednesday that he wouldn't work with them on shared priorities such as infrastructure and bringing down the cost of prescription drugs unless they abandon investigations into his presidency.
In an unusual and unexpected appearance in the Rose Garden, Trump said he told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer at a White House meeting that it would be impossible to go forward with discussions while "phony" congressional investigations were hanging over his administration.
Trump spoke specifically about infrastructure, but it was difficult to see how the White House could move forward to work with the Democratic-controlled House on any number of other issues, including prescription drugs or a pending trade agreement with Mexico and Canada that the president wants approved.
"You probably can’t go down two tracks," he said, just after wrapping up a meeting with the two Democratic leaders at the White House. "You can go down the investigation track or you can go down the investment track."
Trump said he walked into the meeting with Pelosi, Schumer and other Democrats and told them, "I want to do infrastructure. But you know what, you can’t do it under these circumstances."
Trump spent about three minutes talking to the Democratic leaders who gathered in the Cabinet Room to discuss infrastructure, repeating many of the same points he later made in Rose Garden, according to a source familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of the closed-door session. The president did not shake hands with the lawmakers or sit down and he left before any of the Democrats spoke, the source said.
A White House spokesman did not respond to questions about that account of the meeting.
The stagecraft surrounding the president's statement was unusual. Reporters were rushed into the Rose Garden, where a single lectern had been set up in front of the Oval Office. It was not clear how far in advance Trump had planned the move, but the president said he was angry that, hours earlier, Pelosi accused Trump of engaging in a "cover up."
Trump aides placed a sign on the podium that included a favorite talking point: "no collusion," referring to special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in the U.S. election. The president took two questions and then walked back into the West Wing.
Pelosi meets with Dems: Speaker tries to rein in calls for a Trump impeachment as Democrat outrage grows
Back on Capitol Hill, Pelosi said she was disappointed Trump was backing out of talks.
“For some reason, maybe it was a lack of confidence on his part, but he couldn’t come back for the greatness of the challenge we have,” Pelosi said. “I pray for the president of the United States, and I pray for the United States of America.”
Trump and the Democrats had been set to discuss a plan to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. The meeting came just three weeks after Trump and Democrats, in an unusual moment of bipartisanship, agreed to spend $2 trillion on the nation’s crumbling highways, bridges and airports. Still missing, however, was a plan to pay for that investment .
Hours before Pelosi and Schumer were expected at the White House, Trump took to Twitter and accused congressional Democrats of being so focused on investigating him they weren't getting other things done.
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Why should he?
Besides the House has already proven they are in capable of multitasking. They have their get Trump at all costs agenda and investigations to take care of; and passing bills that only the hardest of leftists will support, with no chance of passing the Senate or signed by the POTUS, to keep them busy.
Don't like it when a POTUS refuses to work with Congress? Where the hell was the left for the last 6 years of the Obama administration? Of course then it was those damn Republican obstructionists in Congress; instead of Obama refusing to work with them.
Actually, they just proved that they are multitasking.
The House Appropriations sub-committee just released a Transportation and Housing funding bill.
Looks like they're walking and chewing gum at the same time...
Seems you missed this part of my statement.
Will either get passed the Senate? Will either make it to Trump's desk and be signed?
How many bills the Republican House pass that were deemed non starters by the Harry Reid Senate. Any moron can write a bill; it takes far more to get it passed.
So you want to claim that the House can't multitask and then blame them for the actions of the Senate and Trump. Got ya....
I don't know, how many times did the GOP vote to repeal Obamacare knowing that it wouldn't pass the Senate or be signed by Obama?
Because the country comes before trumps cover ups and childish behavior? Just sayin'
An infrastructure bill and lowering of drug prices would benefit all citizens no matter their political bent.
Seems that Trump doesn't care....What's new.
Toddlers have temper tantrums; it's just what they do. Trump has never acted like an adult and he's not about to start now.
He's also made it very clear that he doesn't give a crap about anyone who doesn't think he's great. Actually, he doesn't give a crap about those who DO think he's great, but most of them are apparently too stupid to realize it.
So....Trump puts his own ego before taking care of the country, got it, good talk. What a childish POS.
Hell, the Trump got off easy again.
Pelosi, instead of mentioning 'cover up' should have said, "I'm going to ask him to show us his health care plan." That would have put the Trump in the barrel.
While I'm not applauding Pelosi's use of "cover up", seeing this POTUS decry he doesn't cover up was truly a moment for the history books or perhaps case study for delusional behavior!
Totally fed up with 'poor me' Donald Trump. He'll fold like a paper doll when he needs to raise the debt ceiling. Our President, the deal maker who has the best words, the man who said we'd be sick of winning; gets his feelings hurt and throws his toys out of the pram. His leadership skill set wouldn't land him playground duty.
Nixon handled two tracks, so did Clinton...through investigations, impeachment hearings, media chomping at their heels yet both able to pass legislation with a House controlled by the other party.
I'm fine with her use of the term "cover up". It brought out the true Trump for all to see. He's holding bills that could help all Americans hostage.
This is potentially the excellent news I had hoped for at the midterms.
I see gridlock as really just another way of saying "checks and balances".
Historically, gridlock is very, very good for this country. The less active Washington is, the more prosperous we become.
Your support of what we see unfolding in our government is stunning. When gridlock is preferred over compromise, it serves to embolden political party over American people.
Midterms be damned, government needs to be operating on behalf of the entire country DAILY.
Why? I really hope you don't find pragmatism "stunning".
You're talking about "feelings". I'm talking about actual measurable reality. We've had several periods of advanced gridlock in recent history. Every one of those periods has corresponded with economic growth.
How? By pandering to batshit extremists, whose ignorance directly correlates with their certainty that they know "what we need to do"?
Ever notice how the most vocal opponents of Common Core Math never actually made it as far as Calculus? Yet they're "experts" on how math should be taught. Ever notice how the most vocal advocates for the poor have never actually been poor and don't actually know any poor people? Ever notice how the people most ardently defending or criticizing the Affordable Care Act don't actually understand it?
We've seen congresspeople who don't know how the unemployment rate is calculated attempting to dictate economic policy. We've seen congresspeople attempting to exert oversite over a military base who were concerned the influx of troops and equipment might capsize the island upon which it sits. (true story...and WTF???)
The vast majority of things they attempt to pass are simply fodder for their next campaign and serve only to complicate the lives of Americans rather than improve them.
WTF indeed!
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Believe my statement regarding gridlock vs compromise spells out my 'stunning' POV. Your pragmatism or mine wasn't part of our written response to the article.
Your "ever notice" litany certainly elicits a YES from me. Perhaps that why I'm fed up with the party bullshit that runs this country and the American people being so tethered by ideology they won't think or seek knowledge for themselves. In each instance, the American people drink the koolaid of their party affiliation. It's what disgusts me as I'm one who sought to understand common core, has been poor, and has read the ACA. No different today, when I ask "Did you read the Mueller report?". Overwhelming the answer "no".
How does anyone have a conversation when cable news, entertainment, is the classroom for so many?
Awwww. Bless your heart.
I guess you don't remember either the Clinton or Obama presidencies.
Clinton was blessed with gridlock that helped generate 4% GDP growth for the latter 3/4 of his presidency. During that time the unemployment rate fell from 5.6% to 3.9%.
During the "obstruction" period of the Obama years, unemployment plummeted from 8.4% to 4.7%. Joe Biden is already arguing on the campaign trail that Donald Trump inherited a strong economy, which is certainly true.
I realize it may very well have caused your head to explode that I have used two Democratic presidencies as positive examples. I should have warned you in advance to sit down and have a bucket ready. But do feel free to explain to everyone how the Obama and Clinton presidencies were such economic disasters.
Nope, they are the two Presidents that served with the highest level of gridlock and had good economies despite it. Imagine how much better it would have been if the GOP had worked with them for the good of the country.
You should have stopped the sentence here. This is a defensible position.
Because of it.
Silly and predictable partisanship from someone who would never admit in 100 million years that any member of the GOP could ever know what was "good for the country".
I know, right?
Exactly. Surely you do not want this "party bullshit" producing legislation with potentially long-lasting effects on our country.
Agreed. My point is simply that any scenario that keeps Kool-Aid salesmen from actually passing laws is a plus for America.
I was a certified math teacher. Common core math methodology was simply a best practices movement that had been proven effective over decades of use. So naturally we threw it out because people who think trigonometry is an advanced concept were hysterical that they could no longer "help" their kids screw up math homework.
Or when "media bias" simply means "media that fails to confirm my bias".
The idiocracy is upon us, and most of the people we elect are simply feeding on it. The more things that stand between them and enacting any of this lunacy, the better.
Personally, I think if we sent them all on a "global golf getaway" and didn't let them back in the country until every one of them was a 7 handicap or less, it would be cheaper and less damaging than what they're currently doing.
You construct your posts, I'll construct mine.
I disagree.
Gee, if it's so fucking silly, then why did the GOP make 180 degree turns from those 'wonderful' gridlocked economies?
BTFW, I have lived in a red state for almost 30 years, Richard Lugar was my Senator and acted for the 'good of the country' and for me as his constituent.
So your posit is that no law needs repeal or amendment and no further legislation needs to be passed?
To satisfy the people who drink RW Kool-Aid so they don't get primaried as a "RINO".
Because primaries tend to be decided by extremist nutjobs on either side. That's how people like Trump or AOC get elected.
Lloyd Bentsen did the same here in Texas. But those people are fewer and farther between than they've ever been. We live in the Twitter society, where nobody can be bothered to pay attention for more than 140 characters. The Idiocracy is upon us.
No. Just that exceedingly few of those things are actually necessary or actually helpful.
Those that ARE actually necessary or helpful tend to be uncontroversial and agreed upon bipartisanly.
The ones that win are serving and spiking the Kool-Aid and it looks like you acknowledge that they've lost their compass...
I disagree. I think that some of the members here prove that their are quite a few people that enjoy going far beyond 140 characters.
Yet the Mitch is still sitting on the VAWA.
Yes and yes.
It's the same on the left, BTW.
You know this how?
The same way you know it about those on the right.
Except I actually do the math.
Didn't ask for your opinion about Jack's knowledge Tex.
The way I know that is that you posted:
Which has nothing to do with math and everything to do with a lack of a compass or any concrete values.
Then why did you reply to me?
Far be it for me to suggest that you should allow Jack to speak for himself.
I would never presume to be able to suss out another members knowledge base on an issue so accurately that I would speak for them.
But hey, you seem to think you're prescient and can speak for what's in others minds.
Carry on.
Oh? So you're relying on me for your news, now? I really can't advise that.
Did I quote you accurately?
We aren't talking about the 'news' Jack. We're talking about political motivations.
Since I read you as a conservative, I took your views on the RW's motivation as credible . If you'd prefer to be viewed as lacking credibility, so be it.
No worries on that account.
Actually no. I don't envy delusion.
Thanks for proving what I said about people who claim to be "moderates" or "independents" actually are just thinly-disguised rightwingers with pretensions.
Even Shitbag's private pollster (Rasmussen--1500 LVs) has shows a 10 point swing against Shitbag compared to last month's poll.
It makes him "feel better" to think so.
If he actually knew any conservatives, he'd be able to tell zealots from centrists.
He has half read part of a post which he had determined before he started was going to confirm his bias. It's established behavior at this point.
Well, that's what you claimed at the time and then you come here and prove my point. It was nice, but unnecessary, for you to do so. And, your notion that gridlock represents the moderate political viewpoint was the proof.
Go ahead and describe for us a scenario where the enactment of a Donald Trump initiative is good for America.
If you can't, you'll need to admit that gridlock is a preferable alternative.
Common sense tends to be an excellent weapon against irrational antagonism.
'Achomlishments': Photographer snaps look at Trump's notes in Rose Garden news conference
Also misspelled is the word intentionally - intentially
Musta bean thimking amouf hims oranges
Goes to show you that we have a moronic imbecile in the white house
Don't remember Hillary winning the election.
True, she didn't win. And that is why we have a moronic imbecile in the WH now.
American voters voted for Clinton over Trump...
Recheck the popular vote results. The American people didn't elect this president.
You really need to comprehend that for better or worse, popular vote does not get presidents elected in this country, the Electoral College does. But you know that already so why do you bother mentioning it?
That looks fake...Tweeters falling for fake shit again?
Why don't you contact the photographer for authentication?
I'd say Shitbag is acting like a spoiled 3 y.o. brat but that would be giving him far too much credit.
I should have included "with advanced dementia" to that description. My apologies.
Trump's recent speech in Philadelphia was incoherent. Even Palin could have done better than that rambling mess.
But, that would be an insult to 3 y/o's.
My 3 year old is infinitely more reasonable (thus a significantly better negotiator) than dip shit.
Meh, just Trump being Trump. Act like a total bitch when you think you are being treated unfairly. Honestly, him not doing shit may be the best possible outcome, not that he has done a whole lot outside of ruining the foundations of government.