This Democratic lawmaker says he'll 'gladly' work with Trump — but there's a catch


Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is not a fan of President Trump's plan to deploy National Guard troops to the southern border, but he's willing to put his feelings aside under the right circumstances.
"I will gladly work with the president when his ideas aren't stupid and detrimental to the United States," Gallego said on CNN Thursday. That's exactly what Trump's plan is, he added, and putting troops along the U.S. border with Mexico is "just throwing essentially red meat at their base." Gallego wasn't finished. "This is a failing presidency," he continued. "Their ideas are failing."
A lot of the plan is still up in the air, although Trump did reveal on Thursday afternoon that he wants to send 2,000 to 4,000 National Guard troops to the border. He hasn't said how much it will cost, how long they'll be there, or what exactly they will do, beyond offering support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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