September 8, 2017

CNN's Alysin Camerota talked to David Gregory about this "somewhat surreal new bond, new-found friendship between Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer."

"Their names, to Donald Trump's base, Schumer and Pelosi, are synonymous with the bogeyman," she said.

"The New York Times this morning is reporting how much he's enjoying the media coverage, saying he's forging this new sort of bipartisan spirit. It's impossible obviously to ever predict what President Trump will do. This is shaking things up in Washington in an interesting way."

"I think there's always been the promise that Donald Trump is so unpredictable that he would buck his own party, make things uncomfortable for democrats, he'd work with them," Gregory said.

"He's not an ideological person, not an ideological president. We're seeing some of the evidence of that. That detail in the Times this morning --that he's watching the coverage and how positive it is --that he's calling Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer is all you need to know.

"It's candy to him, this good coverage. He wants to be liked in this regard. In that way, I don't think we should overread anything. He could make a deal tomorrow in a way that hurts Democrats. I do think there's an opportunity to seize on some of these issues, whether it's immigration, not just Dreamers, but a broader immigration deal, even around taxes.

"The president wants to get something accomplished this year. And there are real schisms within the Republican party, that conservative base that is more and more distinct from Donald Trump's world view, that he may have to turn to Democrats. He'll turn wherever he has to in order to get something done.

"I think what's striking about this week is the conservative movement, a lot of which opposed Donald Trump in 2016 is finding reason to go its own way beyond the midterms as we get closer to 2020."

Camerota noted that Nancy Pelosi encouraged Trump to reassure the Dreamers, and he did.

"He tweeted out, for all those DACA concerned about your status, you have nothing to worry about. That sounds like a direct outcome of his conversation with Nancy Pelosi," she said.

"It also suggests he's willing to deal on a stand-alone piece to remedy the Dreamer situation, although i'm sure he'd like something broader if he can get it, some Republicans are working on that. This is an area of the Dreamers whereas much criticism as he's getting. It's not really something he wanted to do. What he really wants to do is ..." Gregory said.
 

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