New York ties bind Trump and Schumer, but can they last through health care?
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A live Senate -TV mic captured a private conversation between top Senate Dem. Chuck Schumer and an unidentified colleague in which Schumer says he told Trump, “you’re much better off if you can sometimes step right and sometimes step left.” (Sept. 14)
AP
WASHINGTON — What’s driving the new — if perhaps temporary — bromance between President Trump and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer?
It’s a New York thing.
Both are media-savvy pragmatists who love the give-and-take — or the art, shall we say — of negotiating a deal, Big Apple style. They aren’t considered friends, but the outer-borough natives go way back.
“They understand each other,†Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., told USA TODAY. “The president is from Queens, Chuck is from Brooklyn. They talk fast, they interrupt each other, they finish each other’s sentences … and they don’t take personal insults too seriously.”
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, a Californian, put it this way to reporters: “(Schumer) could speak New York to the president.â€
Earlier this month, after months of personal attacks and partisan warfare, Trump unexpectedly sided with Schumer and Pelosi on a short-term plan to avert a default on the nation’s debt, prevent a government shutdown and provide aid for hurricane victims. They also began discussions on a key Democratic priority: creating a path forward for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
“He likes us. He likes me, anyway,†Schumer was overheard saying on a hot micAs Washington — and the Republican Party — reeled from the new alliance, those who know Trump and Schumer weren’t surprised.
GOP leaders made a mistake in thinking “they were the only game in town†and not realizing Trump sees all players as “potential partners,†regardless of their party affiliation, said Michael Caputo, a New York political consultant who served as a senior adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“He’s looking for people to help him get the job done, not for hereditary allies,†Caputo said.
Read more:
Chuck Schumer recounts the art of Democrats’ deal with Trump
Chuck Schumer, President Trump didn’t talk much in first 100 days
Hank Sheinkopf, a New York-based Democratic political consultant, noted a favorite New York expression: “What can we do together?’â€
“This is a place where people who don’t like each other, who don’t agree with each other, come up with reasons to get something done together,†he said.
Trump and Schumer’s goodwill could evaporate in a New York minute as the Senate turns next week to the GOP’s latest health care overhaul plan, an effort Schumer has called a “Frankenstein monster of a bill.†Schumer will be leading the Democratic charge to torpedo the Republicans’ last chance this year to make good on Trump’s promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.
But the two opposing leaders have a history that dates back at least two decades.
“His father and my grandfather were builders together in Brooklyn,†Schumer said of Trump during a 2006 cameo appearance on Trump’s reality TV show, The Apprentice. “Even when he was much younger, you knew he was going to go places.â€
It’s not clear when they first met, but records show the now-Republican Trump began donating to Schumer’s campaigns in 1996, with contributions through 2010 totaling nearly $10,000. Trump reportedly hosted a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2008 at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., when Schumer chaired the committee.
Since 1987, Trump has been registered at times as a Republican and Independent and, from 2001 to 2009, as a Democrat.Â
“He used to love me when I was a Democrat, you know,†Trump joked about Schumer, at a dinner in New York in 2016.Â
Shortly after Schumer was elected minority leader of the Senate, Trump tweeted that he had “always had a good relationship†with Schumer. The senator, however, stressed in a November 2016 interview with Politico that Trump was “not my friend,†adding they never golfed or ate a meal together.
“He’s called me, we’ve had civil conversations a couple of times,†he told Politico then. “But I’ve got to see what he does.â€
Their relations during the first months of the Trump administration weren’t pretty. The nicknamer-in-chief began calling Schumer the Democrats’ “head clown†and “cryin’ Chuck,” while Schumer attacked his policies, led his party’s opposition to many of Trump’s nominees and even trolled the president with a video mocking one of his Cabinet meetings.
Then, after not seeing Trump in person since January, Schumer suddenly found himself twice at the White House this month within 48 hours.
“I think he was a little tired of the partisanship, too, even though frankly he caused some of it,†Schumer said, laughing, during a Sept. 8 interview with USA TODAY.
They discussed the debt ceiling with other congressional leaders during the first meeting, and the second covered a massive tunnel project under the Hudson River with governors and congressional delegations from New York and New Jersey.
“They’re just both blunt,†said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J. “No one danced around the issues.â€
King, who also attended the second meeting, said Trump mentioned to him how well things went with Schumer and Pelosi the night before.
“I said, ‘I think you should have done this months ago, maybe put you and Chuck in a room and chances are we’d get a deal on things like infrastructure and taxes,’ †King said he told Trump. “He said, ‘Ok, that’s what I think.’ “
King added, “They’re not in love with each other, but they certainly like each other.â€
Progressives who have called for full resistance of the Trump agenda say the negotiations have their risks. They’re hopeful for policy wins but don’t want to “normalize†his administration.
“Maybe we can get a good deal out of it,†said Neil Sroka, spokesman for Democracy for America. “It’s heavily dependent on Democratic leaders not compromising on core progressive values.â€
Some Trump supporters were burning their “Make America Great Again†hats over Trump’s immigration discussions with Democrats. But Caputo said that’s only a “tiny sliver†of his base.
Caputo said he has never voted for Schumer and has supported his opponents. But he’s glad Trump is negotiating with him, as long as Trump advances his priorities.
“Those of us in his base understand he must have flexibility,†he said. “If that means working with Chuck Schumer to get things done, so be it.â€
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