President Donald Trump majorly pissed off his extreme base on Saturday afternoon by offering Democrats temporary protections for DACA and an extension for those with temporary protected status in exchange for $5.7 billion for his wall.
Trump’s desperation was clear during his White House speech as he made the offer, which was not televised on any of the major television networks, who clearly learned from their mistake of letting Trump lie to the nation during a primetime Oval Office address two weeks ago.
The government shutdown has dragged on for 29 days now with no end in sight as Trump has repeatedly refused to give up his wall funding to re-open the government so that 800,000 federal workers can get back on the job.
He tried lying about a border crisis. He tried stomping his feet and walking out of meetings in a huff. He tried attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Twitter. He even went so far as to put Pelosi’s life in danger. And now he’s trying to sway Democrats by offering them a temporary reprieve for DACA recipients and migrants with temporary protected status, all in exchange for a permanent ineffective wall that will cost billions.
Here are his full remarks via Twitter below:
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2019
The problem is that Trump is offering Democrats programs that he tried to kill via executive order, and for just threes years no less, which is insulting. And that’s why Democrats rejected it because it’s not a real compromise at all.
It was President @realDonaldTrump who single-handedly took away DACA and TPS protections in the first place—offering some protections back in exchange for the wall is not a compromise but more hostage taking.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 19, 2019
What is original in the President’s proposal is not good. What is good in the proposal is not original. Democrats will vote next week to add additional border security funding for ports of entry, advanced technology for scanning vehicles for drugs & immigration judges.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 19, 2019
Others also criticized Trump’s sorry excuse for a “compromise.”
Trump’s idea of dealmaking:
-Take away DACA
-Take away TPS
-Shut down the government
-Trade temporarily extending DACA and TPS in exchange for a border wall and funding the govt until OctoberIt’s like making a deal with a kid punching you and saying “Stop hitting yourself.”
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 19, 2019
1. Trump eliminated DACA/TPS protections, creating a risk for their deportation
2. Trump cruelly separated families at the border
Let me get this straight:
In exchange for $5.7b for a wall we should agree he needs to fix the problems he created?
No deal. #PayemployeesNOW
— Rep. Veronica Escobar (@RepEscobar) January 19, 2019
So he’s bargaining with DACA?! A program he ended in 2017 and a number of courts around the country ruled the administration’s reasoning was incorrect and kept the program in place. And then the Supreme Court declined to hear Trump’s appeal? That DACA?
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) January 19, 2019
Mr. Trump cannot be trusted, on DACA or anything else. He took the DREAMers hostage before. Now he has the government hostage, and he’s dragging immigrant children into his mess. If Democrats give him his racist wall, he will take more hostages.
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) January 19, 2019
Let’s not forget 3 things.
1. A bipartisan DACA deal was already on the table when he reneged away from it.
2. The shutdown started under a REPUBLICAN Congress.
3. The only person keeping the government shut down right now is Mitch McConnell, who refuses to hold a vote. #NoWall— Hector Mendez (@Taino71) January 19, 2019
Trump offering DACA is like Lucy with the football. As soon as Trump gets funding for his wall, he will take DACA away.?
There is NO WAY that @SpeakerPelosi is going to fall for such a transparently FAKE “offer.”#TrumpShutdown pic.twitter.com/yVfX20ydwK
— Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) January 19, 2019
Trump failed to entice Democrats, and his pathetic effort to do so backfired within his own base as some of his top supporters accused him of offering amnesty.
A Big Beautiful Concrete Border Wall will be a monument to the Rule of Law, the sovereignty of the USA, & @RealDonaldTrump. If DACA Amnesty is traded for $5.7 billion(1/5 of a wall), wouldn’t be enough illegals left in America to trade for the remaining 4/5. NO AMNESTY 4 a wall!
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) January 19, 2019
Trump proposes amnesty. We voted for Trump and got Jeb!
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 19, 2019
100 miles of border wall in exchange for amnestying millions of illegals. So if we grant citizenship to a BILLION foreigners, maybe we can finally get a full border wall.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 19, 2019
Trump’s solution: Let’s just amnesty them! https://t.co/67xTd3iigh
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 19, 2019
Main Takeaway from the Trump Address: Jared Kushner has taken control of the immigration negotiations and we can expect the Republican position to grow ever more dovish after House Democrats reject this proposal later this week
— Jacob Wohl (@JacobAWohl) January 19, 2019
This bill that President Trump just proposed is identical to Jeb’s 2016 immigration platform
— Jacob Wohl (@JacobAWohl) January 19, 2019
Amnesty Don.https://t.co/aarriN6gtx
— Mike Cernovich ??? (@Cernovich) January 19, 2019
Ugh.
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) January 19, 2019
Seriously, while many conservatives are calling Trump a genius for offering this deal, he actually just backed himself into more of a corner because he’s the one who tried to kill DACA and TPS in the first place. Offering temporary relief to two groups of protected people after previously taking away that protection is not a real compromise. It just means Republicans can shut the government down again in three years and dangle these same protections in yet another “compromise” the next time the GOP wants more wall funding. Or they could kill the programs completely, which means Trump would get his wall and Democrats would end up with nothing.
This just shows how desperate Trump is to get out of the mess he created, lest we forget that he’s also the one who shut the government down last month by refusing to sign a bipartisan funding bill passed by Senate Republicans after he signaled he would sign it.
Trump owns this shutdown and until he starts negotiating like an adult, Americans will keep blaming him for it.
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