Democrats Should Cut a Deal With Trump
During the Republican primaries for president in 2016, Senator Ted Cruz’s pitch to become the party’s nominee was to claim that Trump had no loyalty to the GOP and would cut deals with Democrats whenever it suited him.
Key points
- This has worked before, as evidenced by Trump’s willingness in his first term to work with the Democratic congressional leaders, “ Chuck and Nancy,” on a budget deal, and his surprising openness to being charmed into partnering with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on building more affordable housing—and it can work again.
- In exchange, Democrats will need to bank the righteous anger that’s been mounting among leftists for a decade and offer to curb investigations of Trump’s family and close associates.
- Democrats should convince Trump that promoting these policy priorities will benefit his legacy and burnish his self-image as dealmaker in chief.
To exploit Trump’s awareness that his hard-line approach has hurt him politically, Democrats could offer a deal that appeals to his self-perception as a leader uniquely capable of solving intractable problems.
Additional details
- The most distasteful part of the bargain is the one Trump may value most: that in exchange for these statutes, Democrats won’t seek justice….
- Democrats would be wiser to focus their efforts on persuading Trump to sign legislation that will outlast him.
- Democrats might entice Trump to sign these reforms by making them take effect in 2029, after he leaves office.
- Democrats should do the same: pander to Trump’s ego and avarice, and get something big in return.
- Trump’s ostentatious, gold-plated aesthetic —classified by some as “dictator chic” —offends many of the taxpayers footing the bill for all this glitz, but his architectural flourishes are largely harmless, and anything he builds can be changed down the road anyway.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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