On Wednesday night Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer dined with Donald Trump. Following the meeting, the Democrats announced that they had reached a deal with the president on DACA, to give permanent amnesty to the 800,000 or so DREAMers who are, through no real fault of their own, in the country illegally. And that this deal would not include a border wall.
Later in the evening, the White House pushed back against the claim that there was a deal, but only gently. Thursday morning at 6:11 a.m., President Trump claimed that there was no deal.
No deal was made last night on DACA. Massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for consent. Would be subject to vote.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017
And then, nine minutes later, Trump began a stream of tweets which seemed to contradict his contradiction:
The WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017
Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military? Really!…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017
…They have been in our country for many years through no fault of their own – brought in by parents at young age. Plus BIG border security
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017
What’s going on here? Negotiation? Incompetence? Strategic ambiguity? No one really knows, of course. But it’s interesting to see how Trump’s most loyal partisans have reacted.
Some of them seem to have taken the news quite hard. Breitbart’s front page calls Trump ‘Amnesty Don’ and the headline to its story reads, “Report: Trump Caves on DACA, Wants ‘Quick’ Amnesty for 800k Illegal Aliens.
(Though piece makes clear that the real villains in all of this aren’t Trump, Pelosi, and Schumer, but rather the Koch brothers, Marc Short, and Rubio. Because, of course.)
Sean Hannity took a similar line, condemning the policy but blaming … congressional Republicans:
If reports true 100%. I blame R’s. They caused this. They wanted him to fail and now pushed him into arms of political suicide–IF TRUE. https://t.co/WTqe6jzfa9
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) September 14, 2017
Lou Dobbs fingered a different culprit: The Deep State!
Deep State Wins, Huge Loss for #MAGA No Countrvailing WH Force to Globalists Gary Cohn, Dina Powell, Gen. Kelly, Mark Short @POTUS Betrayed https://t.co/cZzWUlUJw2
— Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) September 14, 2017
Ann Coulter, bless her heart, was willing to stick it to Trump:
“Put a fork in Trump, he’s dead.” https://t.co/xEu5lwhmqO
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 14, 2017
At this point, who DOESN’T want Trump impeached? https://t.co/g1mMhmm8ng
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 14, 2017
Laura Ingraham tried for constructive criticism:
ONLY deal that MIGHT make sense for #DACA is RAISE Act + E-Verify + Wall. Dems’ “Border security” pledge is MEANINGLESS. @realDonaldTrump
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) September 14, 2017
While Kurt Schlichter took a c’est la vie approach, because the only thing that really matters is beating the left:
Welcome to the downside of having to support a non-ideological candidate in order to beat a leftist ideologue.
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 14, 2017
And Scott Adams seemed to endorse it, or at least not be opposed to it:
They found the middle. https://t.co/9Bes52qVQ1
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) September 14, 2017
In the end, though, it was Bill Mitchell, God love him, who was willing to run out and positively defend Trump:
We KNOW Trump never gives up something for nothing, yet #Media reports just that and all the pundits buy it. #smh
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) September 14, 2017
Trump meets with Schumer/Pelosi, lets them go out there, make fools of themselves overnight, refutes them in morning. Classic Trump.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) September 14, 2017
This is how Trump negotiates. It’s shocking to some since were not accustomed to strategic thinking from politicians.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) September 14, 2017
If you’re “done with Trump!,” over #DACA negotiations, what about taxes, healthcare, jobs, and the economy? Don’t be a single issue idiot.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) September 14, 2017
#DACA negotiations are just that, negotiations, and we all know (or at least we should) how Trump negotiates.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) September 14, 2017
Why did we elect a great negotiator if we were going to freak every time he negotiates?
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) September 14, 2017
Let me get this straight. Do people really believe great negotiation is easy or obvious? Why do you think they call it “art” of the deal?
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) September 14, 2017
MAGA, baby!
