Twitler thoughtfully provided foreshadowing this morning on his trip to Capitol Hill today:
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
When I saw that this morning, I wasn’t sure what he was up to, aside from mindlessly lashing out. The consensus last time Trump negotiated directly with Pelosi and Schumer was that he (Trump) got pantsed. Was this preemptive bluster designed to soften the bounce if he has to cave again?
If so, “Chuck and Nancy” declined the bait. Breaking news from WaPo:
Pelosi, Schumer pull out of White House meeting over spending
Schumer and Pelosi said that “rather than going to the White House for a show meeting that won’t result in an agreement,” they’ve asked to meet alone with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.).
“If the president, who already said earlier this year that ‘our country needs a good shutdown,’ isn’t interested in addressing the difficult year-end agenda, we’ll work with those Republicans who are, as we did in April. We look forward to continuing to work in good faith, as we have been for the last month, with our Republican colleagues in Congress to do just that.”
Good for them for waving the orange fart cloud away. It would be not only hilarious but a heartening display of bipartisan contempt if Ryan and McConnell met with Pelosi and Schumer as scheduled, sans Scheißegibbon, but I don’t think they have the guts to defy Trump so openly. Yet.