The Fall of the Deal-Maker
The Fall of the Deal-Maker
President Donald Trump didn't create the bitter atmosphere in Washington, but he's making it worse.
By Kenneth T. Walsh | Contributor
July 21, 2017, at 6:00 a.m.
America's polarization and political dysfunction have become structural, built into the system as never before. President Donald Trump didn't create the situation in which the country finds itself, increasingly divided into irreconcilable camps, but Trump is intensifying the hard feelings all around. And things are getting worse.
The collapse of the Senate Republican health care bill this week is a case in point. Trump and GOP leaders were unable to muster the necessary 50 votes to advance the measure, which would have overhauled the health-care law passed under Democratic President Barack Obama. Even though the Republicans have been campaigning against Obamacare since it was enacted seven years ago, they couldn't agree on how to do it. And neither major party was willing to compromise with the other side. The result: an embarrassing failure. And since the GOP controls the House, the Senate and the White House, Republicans bear most of the burden for the setback.
Trump acknowledged that the GOP now has a massive credibility problem. "For seven years, I've been hearing 'repeal and replace' from Congress, and I've been hearing it loud and strong," Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to Obamacare. "And then when we finally get a chance to repeal and replace, they don't take advantage of it. So, that's disappointing." Notice that he didn't take personal responsibility for what happened. Instead, he blamed Congress. But Trump has suffered a huge blow to his reputation as a deal-maker.
The billionaire real-estate developer pledged during the campaign to use his deal-making skills to outsmart and overpower the power structure in Washington and force the elites bend to his will. It isn't happening. And he has little of consequence to show legislatively for his first six months in office, aside from winning Senate confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. That was an important victory but a far cry from the era of presidential dominance that Trump imagined during the campaign.
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https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2017-07-21/trump-promised-to-be-a-deal-maker-hes-not
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