ItWasMeantToBe19
Banned
1. Trump doesn't care at all about what is in bills or what bills do... And tried to argue that what bills do doesn't matter while he was talking to ideologues who only care about specifics in bills.
Trump also doesn't understand any form of influencing or leverage other than lies and threats and screwed himself threatening someone who he could have easily convinced.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/st...th-care-ahca-replacement-failure-trump-214947
The Art of the Deal, baby.
Donald Trump had heard enough about policy and process. It was Thursday afternoon and members of the House Freedom Caucus were peppering the president with wonkish concerns about the American Health Care Act—the language that would leave Obamacare's ”essential health benefits" in place, the community rating provision that limited what insurers could charge certain patients, and whether the next two steps of Speaker Paul Ryan's master plan were even feasible—when Trump decided to cut them off.
"Forget about the little shit," Trump said, according to multiple sources in the room. "Let's focus on the big picture here."
The group of roughly 30 House conservatives, gathered around a mammoth, oval-shaped conference table in the Cabinet Room of the White House, exchanged disapproving looks. Trump wanted to emphasize the political ramifications of the bill's defeat; specifically, he said, it would derail his first-term agenda and imperil his prospects for reelection in 2020. The lawmakers nodded and said they understood. And yet they were disturbed by his dismissiveness. For many of the members, the "little shit" meant the policy details that could make or break their support for the bill—and have far-reaching implications for their constituents and the country.
"We're talking about one-fifth of our economy," a member told me afterward.
Trump also doesn't understand any form of influencing or leverage other than lies and threats and screwed himself threatening someone who he could have easily convinced.
Then Trump made a mistake. After singling out Meadows and asking him to stand up in front of his colleagues, Trump joked that he might "come after" the Freedom Caucus boss if he didn't vote yes, and then added, with a more serious tone: "I think Mark Meadows will get on board."
It was a crucial misreading of Meadows, who has been determined to please both the White House and his conservatives colleagues on the Hill. Upon assuming the chairmanship of the Freedom Caucus earlier this year, Meadows was viewed suspiciously by some of his members who worried that the North Carolina congressman is too cozy with Trump and would hesitate to defy him. Meadows campaigned extensively with Trump last fall and struck up a relationship with White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who communicates with him almost daily by text. Meadows knew the heath care fight would be viewed as a test of his independence from Trump, and the moment the president called him out, he was boxed in.
"That was the biggest mistake the president could have made," one Freedom Caucus member told me. "Mark desperately wanted to get to yes, and Trump made it impossible for him. If he flipped after that he would look incredibly weak."
http://www.politico.com/magazine/st...th-care-ahca-replacement-failure-trump-214947
The Art of the Deal, baby.