House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday she pressed President Trump to give “reassurance” to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in a phone call early Thursday.
The call happened prior to the president’s tweet that Dreamers have “nothing to worry about” in the next six months, she said.
“When he called this morning, I said, ‘thanks for calling … People really need a reassurance from you, Mr. President, that the six-month period is not a period of round-up,” Pelosi said.
“I was reporting to my colleagues what I asked the president to do and boom boom boom, the tweet appeared. So that’s good,” she said.
Pelosi declined to delve into further details about the call, only saying they talked about “some other issues.”
The call came a day after Trump struck a deal with Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on a three-month deal for a continuing resolution and to raise the debt ceiling. Pelosi said reports in the media about Trump being easily persuaded were wrong and that it was an “intense” conversation.
“No, it wasn’t quick … Maybe that’s why I decided to share so much with you this morning because I was reading on TV this morning that we went in there, put it on the table — boom, out the door. No, it wasn’t like that at all,” Pelosi said. “It was a very long, intense conversation.”
However, the California Democrat said she isn’t sure if the newfound cooperation with the president could lead to renewed bipartisanship with Trump and the White House.
“I don’t know that,” Pelosi said. She also said Trump will likely want something in the form of border security in exchange for passage of the DREAM Act.
“I think we all came to a good place,” Pelosi said, referring to the need for Congress to act and pass a version of the DREAM Act, adding those supporting a bill have a “stronger hand” at the moment.
