This has all give the Washington Post a sad
Trump abandons proposing ideas to curb gun violence after saying he would following mass shootings
President Trump has abandoned the idea of releasing proposals to combat gun violence that his White House debated for months following mass shootings in August, according to White House officials and lawmakers, a reversal from the summer when the president insisted he would offer policies to curb firearm deaths.
Trump has been counseled by political advisers, including campaign manager Brad Parscale and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, that gun legislation could splinter his political coalition, which he needs to stick together for his reelection bid, particularly amid an impeachment battle.
The president no longer asks about the issue, and aides from the Domestic Policy Council, once working on a plan with eight to 12 tenets, have moved on to other topics, according to aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private deliberations.
First, it’s funny that the Post never seems to actually have sources who aren’t anonymous. It makes you wonder how many actually are real, and, for those who are, actually know what’s going on. Regardless, in this case, yeah, you can see Trump moving on from this
“President Trump quietly moved gun control to the side and let it be replaced by breaking news,†said Dan Eberhart, a major GOP donor who said Trump is better off not advancing proposals at this time. “I suspect that was the plan all along.â€
Meh. It seems like Trump was responding to Big Happenings, kneejerk reactions, then moved on. But, maybe there’s another reason that he moved on
Trump could always reverse course and embrace changes to gun laws, particularly if there is another shooting, but the president and his top aides are intensely focused on the impeachment inquiry and moving to aggressively shore up Republican support in the face of new revelations about his dealings with Ukraine that are central to House Democrats’ efforts to remove him from office…. (snip)
House Democrats argue that they have already passed gun-control legislation and that it is up to Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate to act. (snip)
Trump grew disenchanted with red-flag laws after hearing from Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and other conservatives that they could be used to take away guns from law-abiding citizens, according to White House officials.
So, we do see Trump becoming unenthused with the proposals, as he many explained the problems with them. And Democrats didn’t seem interested, because they had their own policies of gun grabbing. So, why bother with his own policies when they wouldn’t get a look in the House? And why bother when Democrats aren’t actually interested in giving Trump any sort of win?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Donald Trump’s new Nafta deal is the “easiest trade deal that we’ve ever done.â€
“We’re on a path to yes, and I think every day brings us closer to agreement,†Pelosi told a roundtable with Bloomberg reporters and editors on Friday. “I’d like to have it done as soon as it’s ready. I wouldn’t rule it out next year. Hopefully we can do it sooner, but I said when it’s ready we’ll do it.â€
The deal has been sitting around for a year, waiting for the House to do something. As Ed Morrissey notes
Besides, the timing of the USMCA approval matters greatly to Democrats in the election next year. When it does pass, it will be a major policy win for Trump, who can claim that he was right all along about NAFTA and the need for a more America First-centered trade agreement in North America. The time to hand Trump that win would be as early as possible before the next election, so as to mute its impact on his re-election prospects. Does anyone believe that Pelosi calculated this so as to hand Trump a victory in the middle of the Democratic primaries? Come on, man.
There won’t be a vote at all, because Democrats do not want to give Trump a win, even as our trading partners wait and wait and wait. They’re obsessed with impeachment, not doing their real job.
