DEMS/INFRASTRUCTURE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Democratic congressional leaders emerged from a meeting at the White House on Tuesday [4-30-19] and announced that President Trump had agreed to pursue a $2 trillion infrastructure plan to upgrade the nation’s highways, railroads, bridges and broadband. Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, said that there had been ‘good will’ in the meeting and that it was ‘different than some of the other meetings that we’ve had.’ Standing alongside Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he said the group planned to meet again in three weeks, when Mr. Trump was expected to tell them how he planned to actually pay for the ambitious project. The first substantive sit-down between Mr. Trump and Democratic leadership since the 35-day government shutdown last winter unfolded at a tense moment. Since their last meeting at the White House, the special counsel released his 448-page report detailing Mr. Trump’s monthslong effort to thwart an investigation that loomed over his presidency. Ms. Pelosi, since then, has tried to caution her colleagues against impeaching the president, while facing growing pressure from her caucus and from 2020 Democratic presidential contenders to do so.”
–Annie Karni, Emily Cochrane and Alan Rappeport, “Trump and Democrats Agree to Pursue $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan,” The New York Times online, April 30, 2019