Trump Cuts Second Deal with Dems Over DACA – Faces Republican Backlash

President Donald Trump has made significant progress towards a deal with Democrats that would protect hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants who brought here as children and are known as “DREAMers,” from the threat of deportation. The deal to fix DACA, would not immediately involve funding for Trump’s key campaign promise of a southern border wall.

The bombshell deal, Trump’s second such deal with Democrats this week, was first announced in a statement Wednesday night by Democratic congressional leaders, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The statement read, “We had a very productive meeting at the White House with the President. The discussion focused on DACA,” it continued, “We 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.”

The deal was brokered at a dinner Wednesday night between the Democratic leaders and Trump. Notably, neither House Speaker Paul Ryan, nor Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were present for the dinner.

Trump faced near immediate backlash from conservative politicians and media figures who considered the immigration about-face a retraction on a key campaign promise.

Brushing back criticism, the following morning Trump took to Twitter to insist that “no deal was made” on DACA. Through Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders the White House also pushed back on the idea that Trump was dropping support for a border wall, a key campaign promise.

Schumer and Pelosi responded by issuing a statement clarifying the matter, claiming that “while both sides agreed that the wall would not be any part of this agreement, the President made clear he intends to pursue it at a later time, and we made clear we would continue to oppose it.” Matt House, Schumer’s communications director, added that the “President made clear he would continue pushing the wall, just not as part of this agreement.”

The Reaction:

When news of the deal was first announced by Schumer and Pelosi, both major subjects of Republican ire, it sent shockwaves through Trump’s conservative base, for whom Trump’s hard-line stance on immigration was a core reason for their support. The initial reaction of this block was both that of shock and irritation. Conservative politicians and media figures took their frustrations to Twitter, airing their grievances directly to millions of Americans.

Republican Representative Steve King of Iowa tweeted, “Unbelievable! Amnesty is a pardon for immigration law breakers coupled with the reward of the objective of their crime.” Chuck Grassley, the Republican Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, tweeted at Trump asking to be briefed on the news and claiming that the President had “undercut” a previous bipartisan agreement from the Judiciary Committee that he chairs.

The reaction also came from conservative media outlets and media surrogates. Staunch Trump ally and media figure Sean Hannity added, “Weak R’s have betrayed voters. @POTUS needs to stay the course and keep his promises or it’s over! Pelosi and Schumer can never be trusted.”

And Breitbart News, run by Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, headlined news of the alleged deal Wednesday with “Amnesty Don.” According to the Washington Post’s Robert Costa, a Brietbart editor told him by phone that the deal was a “betrayal of the highest order. Donald Trump should be ashamed of himself.”

Finally, Ann Coulter, former Trump surrogate and author of “In Trump We Trust,” had perhaps the most intense reaction, asking, “at this point, who DOESN’T want Trump impeached?”

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