California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said President Trump’s decision to cut a deal with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is “a start.”
Feinstein, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said it’s a sign that Trump might do what it takes to get big bipartisan legislation done.
“I would say this is a start. Because big bills have to be bipartisan. I’ve learned that over 24 years and people have to work together,” she said.
“In a two party system, the president becomes a point of reconciliation between the two and that’s been the history of leaders going up, sitting down with the president, working something out. So, this to me was a bit of regular order that might be able to produce something.”
Feinstein has been one of the few Democrats who’s been willing to say she’s hopeful for the Trump presidency, going so far as to say Trump could be a “good president” last month. That remark drew jeers from her fellow Democrats.
Trump tweeted a jab at North Korea leader Kim Jong Un Sunday morning, calling him “Rocket Man,” but Feinstein said North Korea’s growing strength is no laughing matter.
She said the intelligence she’s seen from North Korea shows Trump’s hope of resolving issues between the two countries with diplomacy is unlikely to work.
“North Korea is not going to give up its program with nothing on the table,” she said.
She added, “I have never been in greater, in a state of greater concern about this nation and Korea, because there is a certain recklessness on the other side. They now have very powerful weapons. They’ve done six nuclear tests. They have big missiles and they have missiles that can carry … they can hit anywhere within the United States now.”
