Axios is reporting that Donald Trump will offer Democrats a deal they may not be able to refuse. The president, who addresses the nation at 3 p.m. Eastern today, will agree to sign legislation that would legalize at least some of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients in exchange for funding his wall.
The website also reports that Trump will include an extension of the legal status of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders. Trump wants $5.7 billion to build a border wall before he will agree to end the partial government shutdown.
There had been some speculation that Trump would use his national address to declare a border emergency, but CNN says that won’t be the case.
President Donald Trump plans to offer Democrats another proposal to end the shutdown when he addresses the nation from the White House on Saturday afternoon — what officials are describing as his third offer to end the shutdown, according to a senior administration official.
The official told CNN that Trump’s idea is to put something on the table to get Democrats to engage with negotiations. Trump is not expected to back down from his demand for a border wall, but the plan will seek to entice Democrats by offering other concessions.
However, this plan is not based on negotiations with Democrats and White House officials are pessimistic that it will change much in stalled talks, because Democrats have previously refused to counter the White House’s proposal. Instead they have insisted that the President reopen the government, then engage in negotiations over border security.
The official added that discussions about a national emergency are ongoing in the administration and the President is not expected to announce a decision on that during Saturday’s speech. However, nothing is definite until it’s announced by the President.
Trump announced earlier Friday evening that he would be making a statement to the nation at 3 p.m. Saturday from the White House. The speech will come on the 29th day of the government shutdown, which began last month when congressional Democrats and Trump failed to reach a deal to fund roughly a quarter of the government.
There are enough Republican senators who would go for a DACA deal in exchange for border wall funding, but are there enough Democrats in the House who would sign on to a deal that included border wall funding? There have been cracks in party unity on both sides in recent days. Several members who just want the shutdown over have indicated that they would be willing to sign on to just about anything to make that happen.
But Pelosi and Schumer are way out on a limb on the shutdown. Would enough Democrats stage a revolt against the leadership to approve the compromise? It’s certainly possible. Pelosi, especially, is not very popular with the new Democratic members, and if Trump could entice Republicans in the House to go for his plan, enough Democrats may agree to support the president so the shutdown could be ended.
Democrats are itching to start investigating Trump, but everything is on hold until the shutdown is over. That may be another incentive for Democrats to make a deal with the president and give him what he wants on funding the wall.
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