Rep. Raul Labrador suggested Thursday that Republican congressional leaders should read Donald Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal, to prepare for fiscal fights with Democratic leaders.
“This is why Donald Trump is doing so well, because at least he knows how to negotiate. Our appropriators or members of our leadership have absolutely no clue how to negotiate. They actually give in the negotiation at the beginning of the negotiation, and then they wonder why 10 percent of the American people like them,” Labrador said during a “Conversations with Conservatives” event on Capitol Hill.
“Maybe they need to take Donald Trump’s university — oh wait, that actually failed,” he added. “Maybe at least read The Art of the Deal and figure out how to negotiate big deals.”
Labrador’s comments reflect the balancing act that conservative lawmakers tried to maintain throughout the event. While they believe Trump’s success this presidential cycle proves the political viability of their ideas, they don’t necessarily trust Trump to govern like a conservative if he should ever reach the Oval Office.
Labrador, one of the House Freedom Caucus members who pushed former Speaker John Boehner to resign, wants Speaker Paul Ryan to pass a budget that cuts spending by about $30 billion this year. Such a budget would reverse the spending increases that Boehner agreed to last fall while negotiating with Senate Democrats before leaving office.
“If there’s not a bipartisan issue out there in the mandatory spending that we can cut by $30 billion, in a budget of $4 trillion, we should just hang our heads in shame,” Labrador said.
The Idaho Republican argued that Trump is winning because he adopted the platform of the House fiscal hawks. “If you listen to what he said when he won New Hampshire, he knocked our budget,” Labrador said.
But Labrador also voiced doubts about Trump’s commitment to those ideas. “I don’t think he’s a conservative,” he said. “I don’t think he advocates conservative principles. He is more of a pragmatist. Some people call him a waffler.”
