President Trump delivered what was billed as a major speech on his new infrastructure initiative Thursday — and then promptly broke news on Syria policy.
“Following on the great success of tax cuts and reform, and alongside his administration’s sustained regulatory reform efforts, infrastructure is the next piece of the president’s economic agenda,” deputy White House press secretary Lindsay Walters told reporters before the speech.
Press secretary Sarah Sanders previewed the president’s remarks Wednesday by saying his audience would “represent the hardworking Americans across the country who will participate in the rebuilding of our nation’s infrastructure, sparked from the president’s vision, and it will definitely be worth tuning in to see the president lay out that vision.”
So in Ritchfield, Ohio, Trump suggested a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria may be approaching. “We’re coming out of Syria very soon,” he said. “Let the other people take care of it now — very soon, very soon, we’re coming out.”
Trump talked about judges, expressing wonderment that his Democratic predecessors left him so many judicial vacancies to fill.
“It was like a big, beautiful present to all of us,” the president said. “Why the hell did he leave that? Maybe he got complacent.”
“Thank you very much, President Obama. We all appreciate it. Thank you,” Trump added. “What happened? How did he do that?”
Trump even brought up television shows. “Look at Roseanne — look at her ratings,” he told the crowd. “They were unbelievable. Over 18 million people. And it was about us!”
What Trump didn’t do was shed much new light on where things stood with the infrastructure plan his administration unveiled on February 12.
“We joke in D.C. that every week is Infrastructure Week,” said Republican strategist Alex Conant. “Clearly, the president’s team wants to talk about infrastructure but are overtaken by events. It’s hard for bridges and roads to compete with the headlines coming out of the White House.”
An attempted infrastructure rollout last month was derailed by questions about the White House’s handling of former aide Rob Porter’s resignation amid domestic violence allegations.
Yet another Infrastructure Week the previous June was overshadowed by former FBI Director James Comey’s congressional testimony that week. When the president spoke about infrastructure at Trump Tower that August, he instead set off a firestorm of controversy while answering questions about a deadly racist event in Charlottesville afterward.
Republican congressional leaders tried to help the president stay on message Thursday. “Rebuilding America’s #infrastructure is a critical issue that @POTUS, his Administration, and Congress are continuing to work to achieve together,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tweeted.
McConnell’s wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, would oversee much of the implementation of any infrastructure plan.
“America is coming back,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tweeted. “With more Americans working and the future finally looking up, Congress will continue to work with @POTUS to lay the foundation for decades of continued prosperity.” He ended the message with an infrastructure hashtag.
Many lawmakers are nevertheless cool to the White House plan. Democrats protested that while it is intended to stimulate $1.5 trillion worth of projects, it only contains $200 billion in direct federal spending, intended to be offset with cuts elsewhere. Some Republicans fear that in an attempt to gain bipartisan support, it will grow into a $1 trillion boondoggle reminiscent of former President Barack Obama’s stimulus package.
“We probably have to wait until after the election because the Democrats say, ‘Don’t give him anymore wins,'” Trump complained. House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., is retiring at the end of this term.
Trump clearly cares about the issue. “I was always very good at building. It was always my best thing. I think better than being president, I was maybe good at building,” he joked during his Ohio speech. The infrastructure team Trump has put in place, led by D.J. Gribbin, is smart and focused.
Still, many of the distractions are self-inflicted. “Every time the guy tweets about something other than his agenda, he’s hurting his agenda,” Conant said. “This morning, he tweeted about Amazon, not his upcoming infrastructure speech.”
“With not a lot of pressure on Congress to act, it is kind of hard to sustain a PR campaign,” he added, though on the other hand, “Presumptively, [an infrastructure bill] would mean something every congressman could point to in their district.”
Now Trump is publicly suggesting infrastructure will have to wait until after the elections, even as he tries to rekindle interest in the issue. Will he be able to stay on topic?
“I think so,” said conservative activist and former Missouri Republican Party chairman Ed Martin. “Best infrastructure is the wall!”
