A President Not Sure of What He Wants Complicates the Shutdown Impasse
- 6 years ago
A President Not Sure of What He Wants Complicates the Shutdown Impasse
“His inclinations are hawkish on immigration, but he seems to like to be agreeable to people
and nod his head when he’s at a meeting and people are saying things, and try to make a deal.”
Mr. Krikorian said that he did not subscribe to the “Svengali theory” of the White House
that cast Mr. Miller as a puppet master on immigration, but that it often fell to him and Mr. Kelly to explain the nuances of certain terms or proposals to a president unfamiliar with them.
“There’s a real sense that there’s a disconnect between the president and his staff on immigration issues, and people on all sides are seeking to exploit
that disconnect,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who advised Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, one of Mr. Trump’s rivals, in his 2016 bid for the White House.
“This is what happens when you have a president who is not clear
and consistent on what he will accept: It emboldens all parties to take positions that they won’t compromise.”
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, suggested
that Mr. Trump was in the thrall of extremists on his staff pulling him back from more moderate instincts on immigration.
When Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said she wanted a “clean DACA bill,” Mr. Trump quickly agreed, only to have Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the majority leader, pipe up to explain
that meant accepting a stand-alone bill to legalize a group of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, without any security measures or other conditions the president had cited as priorities
And twice over the past two weeks, Mr. Trump has privately told lawmakers he is eager to strike a deal to extend legal status to the so-called Dreamers, only to have his chief of staff, John F. Kelly, and senior policy adviser, Stephen Miller, make clear afterward
that such a compromise was not really in the offing — unless it also included a host of stiffer immigration restrictions.
“His inclinations are hawkish on immigration, but he seems to like to be agreeable to people
and nod his head when he’s at a meeting and people are saying things, and try to make a deal.”
Mr. Krikorian said that he did not subscribe to the “Svengali theory” of the White House
that cast Mr. Miller as a puppet master on immigration, but that it often fell to him and Mr. Kelly to explain the nuances of certain terms or proposals to a president unfamiliar with them.
“There’s a real sense that there’s a disconnect between the president and his staff on immigration issues, and people on all sides are seeking to exploit
that disconnect,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who advised Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, one of Mr. Trump’s rivals, in his 2016 bid for the White House.
“This is what happens when you have a president who is not clear
and consistent on what he will accept: It emboldens all parties to take positions that they won’t compromise.”
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, suggested
that Mr. Trump was in the thrall of extremists on his staff pulling him back from more moderate instincts on immigration.
When Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said she wanted a “clean DACA bill,” Mr. Trump quickly agreed, only to have Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the majority leader, pipe up to explain
that meant accepting a stand-alone bill to legalize a group of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, without any security measures or other conditions the president had cited as priorities
And twice over the past two weeks, Mr. Trump has privately told lawmakers he is eager to strike a deal to extend legal status to the so-called Dreamers, only to have his chief of staff, John F. Kelly, and senior policy adviser, Stephen Miller, make clear afterward
that such a compromise was not really in the offing — unless it also included a host of stiffer immigration restrictions.