Two senior Democratic Party leaders claim President Donald Trump agreed to a deal that would protect young immigrants from deportation without funding for the border wall. However, that deal seems to have already hit a brick wall.
On Wednesday, Trump invited Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) to a “working dinner” at the White House.
According to Schumer and Pelosi, they had a “very productive meeting,” where they discussed crafting legislation that would protect immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
After the meeting, Schumer and Pelosi released a joint statement that said Trump agreed to “enshrine the protections of DACA into law quickly, and to work out a package of border security, excluding the wall, that’s acceptable to both sides.”
“We also urged the President to make permanent the cost-sharing reduction payments, and those discussions will continue,” Schumer and Pelosi continued.
However, shortly after Democrats issued their statement, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pushed back, tweeting that “while DACA and border security were both discussed, excluding the wall was certainly not agreed to.”
While DACA and border security were both discussed, excluding the wall was certainly not agreed to.
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) September 14, 2017
During a meeting with Schumer and Pelosi last week, Trump agreed to extend the debt limit and fund the government until December 15, sparking outrage among Republicans.
Earlier, Huckabee Sanders defended Trump’s decision to have the meeting without any leaders of the Republican Party.
“I think it’s pretty disingenuous for people to say he’s only meeting with Democrats,” Huckabee Sanders said, according to the White House. “The President is the leader of the Republican Party and was elected by Republicans. And so the idea that the Republican Party ideas are not represented in that room is just ridiculous.”
In a recent Rasmussen poll, 66 percent of likely US voters said Trump should work with Democrats to advance his agenda. Only 13 percent thought bipartisan cooperation would be bad for the country.
Some Trump supporters, however, were loud about their disapproval of the alleged deal.
Well Mitch GREAT JOB! You failed so miserably with Healthcare and “excessive expectations” now @POTUS has to deal with Dem Leaders!
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) September 14, 2017
“BUILD THE WALL! BUILD THE WALL!”…or…maybe…not really.
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) September 14, 2017
If he does not build the wall, he simply will not get reelected. If he does build it, he will win 2020 by a landslide. It is that simple. https://t.co/HWVKC8MFtu
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 14, 2017