BUDGET/POLITICAL FIGURES/POLITICS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP POSITION CHANGES: “Lawmakers who have complained publicly that they are not sure what President Donald Trump wants out of a deal to end the ongoing government shutdown are “not paying attention,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday morning, accusing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of being unable to keep pace with policy negotiations…
The press secretary reiterated what the president’s broad priorities have been, that any deal to protect Dreamers – undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children – be paired with immigration reforms and border security measures, including funding for a wall along the U.S. Mexico border…
While Sanders was emphatic that Trump has been clear in his demands, Schumer said over the weekend that ‘negotiating with President Trump is like negotiating with Jell-O’ and it ‘next to impossible.’ McConnell said last week, as negotiators scrambled in vain to keep the government open, that ‘I’m looking for something that President Trump supports, and he’s not yet indicated what measure he’s willing to sign.’
Sanders said any apparent difficulty in negotiation on Schumer’s part was likely a political ploy as the two sides seek a deal to reopen the government and codify protections for Dreamers into law.”
-Louis Nelson, “White House fires back at senators who say Trump’s priorities aren’t clear,” Politico, Jan. 22, 2018 08:18am