Actions not words, but it's pretty amusing/terrifying to see his tweets sending the Republicans into a spin
Donald J. TrumpVerified account
@realDonaldTrump
CHIP should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension!
Manu Raju
*@mkraju*
Trump seems to be disagreeing with the WH/Hill GOP strategy to tie CHIP to the CR to get votes to keep govt open
And
Sahil KapurVerified account
@sahilkapur
Uh oh. Now he’s undercutting the Republican strategy, which is to use the CHIP extension to coerce Dems into voting yes.
Jonathan Swan
*@jonathanvswan*
Another (perhaps wishful thinking) theory circulating among GOP leadership: that Trump is confused, worded his tweet wrong, and is actually endorsing six-year CHIP extension.
And
David WrightVerified account
.@JohnCornyn on Fox just now: "Well, I'm not sure what the president means. What this [current short-term spending proposal] would do, though, is it would reauthorize the CHIP program for, I believe, for five years. So, it is not just a 30-day extension."
.@JohnCornyn: "Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy have to figure a way to cobble together the 218 votes. Apparently, they feel like adding this will help them get to the 218 votes."
On immigration talks, @JohnCornyn says "we're back at the drawing board" -- "I give [Durbin & Graham] credit for trying, but it wasn't strong enough for border security for me and didn't satisfy the president's demands"
Asked about chances House can avert shutdown, @JohnCornyn says "I think it is pretty good. We all understand the importance of keeping the lights on here in the nation's capitol while we're working on this other deal, these other deals."
.@JohnCornyn: "Unfortunately the DACA discussion has really hijacked everything else, including the negotiation over budget caps, funding the military, children's health insurance, and other important programs. So, that's where we are now."
.@JohnCornyn: "Until we get that worked out, I don't think the Democrats are going to let us pass the funding for the military and these other priorities."
.@JohnCornyn adds, "I think @SenatorDurbin is finally beginning to accept the fact that this negotiated deal with @LindseyGrahamSC and others is not going to work."
Daniel Dale
*@ddale8*
More Daniel Dale Retweeted David Wright
Another January morning of Republicans trying to figure out if Trump's tweet means he is opposing their position or just very confused.
And
Matt O'BrienVerified account
@ObsoleteDogma
"Why the president suddenly undercut Republican arguments was not immediately clear"
Dan Pfeiffer
*@danpfeiffer*
Potential Reasons:
a) Has no idea what his own strategy is.
b) Saw something on Fox and Friends that confused him.
c) Is not a very stable genius.
d) All of the above.