The real reason Donald Trump is desperate enough to give away the store to the Democrats
Today Donald Trump did something eyebrow raising, yet in hindsight, perhaps ultimately predictable: he caved. No, not to his own Republican Party, which has been increasingly harsh on him. He caved to the Democrats – even though they lack a majority and are not currently in power – without bothering to ask for anything in return.
Trump caved to Democratic Party leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer today by giving in to their demand that a three month debt ceiling increase be attached to Hurricane Harvey relief. Then Trump came back later in the day and hinted that he’s willing to let the Democrats have their way on DACA as well. There’s a reason for this, and it’s not as simple as Trump wanting to stick it to the Republicans for not supporting him.
Sure, Trump doesn’t mind that the Republicans in Congress are now left scrambling. They’ve spent the past month publicly humiliating him, amid his racist meltdown over Charlottesville and his exploding Russia scandal. The Democrats have been just as harsh toward him, but that’s not the point. Now Trump’s own team has its back against the wall, scrambling to figure out how to justify exploding the deficit by slashing taxes for the wealthy, even as it prepares to have to raise the debt ceiling in three months. This was all avoidable, but Trump didn’t want to avoid it.
No matter how you look at it, Donald Trump is failing. Some presidents are more interested in being popular, while others care about getting things done, and still others focus on surviving by simply avoiding controversy. Trump is the rare president who has a total lack of popularity and a total lack of accomplishments while also struggling to survive. Forget about his master plan; there never was one. He’s been flailing from day one, and it’s caught up with him to the point that even his own party is beginning to conclude that it’s better off by hanging him out to dry.
So now Trump, having long ago run out of good options and left grasping at desperation ploys, is trying to stave off his inevitable demise just a bit longer by setting his own party on fire. If the Republican Congress is a dysfunctional mess, the media will focus on that a bit more, while focusing on Trump’s disasters a bit less. Perhaps more importantly, if the GOP is busy putting out fires in its own house, it’ll make it all the more difficult for the party to come together and preemptively oust Trump before the midterms.
Donald Trump gains nothing by caving to the Democrats on the debt ceiling, or DACA, or anything else. The left will still see him as a racist traitor, and the Democrats will still make every effort to make him pay for his treason with Russia. Trump’s own base will like him less for working with the Democrats. But he’s not looking to gain anything; he’s merely setting his own team’s clubhouse on fire as a distraction. He’d better hope that fire doesn’t blow back on his own head.
