Congressional Republicans "have banked on at least one comforting constant" during President Trump's tenure, say Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman at The New York Times: "However unpredictable, disengaged, backbiting, or belligerent he has been to them, he has been unwilling to ditch them for the Democrats." That changed on Wednesday, when Trump sided with the Democratic leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), against top Republicans and his treasury secretary on a deal to raise the debt limit for three months, not up to 18 months as Republicans wanted.
Republicans were "shellshocked" by Trump's move, according to several accounts of Wednesday's meeting, then furious. And just after Trump allied with the Democrats, Ivanka Trump walked in, CNN reports. Legislators and staff members described the moment as "instantly iconic, and not in a good way," Thrush and Haberman report. Here's the version they heard:
Trump often invites his daughter Ivanka Trump into meetings to signal their conclusion — or to keep his interlocutors off balance. When Ms. Trump entered the office toward the end of the discussion on Wednesday, ostensibly to discuss tax reform, Republicans in the room reacted with astonishment and annoyance. [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell, who is barely on speaking terms with the president, quietly seethed, according to two people familiar with the situation. [The New York Times]
And from The Atlantic:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Another aide briefed on the meeting said that toward its conclusion, Ivanka Trump entered the room to say hello to the leaders and the discussion veered off-track. "Republican leaders were visibly annoyed by Ivanka's presence," the aide said. [The Atlantic]
And CNN:
Ivanka Trump, who also serves as a White House adviser, "entered the Oval Office to 'say hello' and the meeting careened off-topic," a congressional source briefed on the meeting told CNN's Deirdre Walsh. Some Republican leaders were "visibly annoyed by Ivanka's presence," the source said. But House Speaker Paul Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong refuted that characterization, saying, "That's not true." [CNN]
CNN's Betsy Klein says that the "casual drop-by from daughter Ivanka Trump" is a well-known Trump gambit in "high-profile meetings" dating back to when Ivanka was in high school. Officially, the president invited his daughter into Wednesday's meeting to discuss the child care tax credit, but she has also dropped in during recent high-stakes newspaper interviews. GOP leaders apparently won't miss this trick when Ivanka returns to New York.
-
5 snappily written cartoons about vanishing food stamp benefitsCartoons Artists take on SNAP recipients, Halloween generosity, and more
-
The 5 best political thriller series of the 21st centuryThe Week Recommends Viewers can binge on most anything, including espionage and the formation of parliamentary coalitions
-
Sudan stands on the brink of another national schismThe Explainer With tens of thousands dead and millions displaced, one of Africa’s most severe outbreaks of sectarian violence is poised to take a dramatic turn for the worse
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
