Trump admitted that he is using Dreamers as hostages as part of a scheme to get Democrats to pay for his wall.
Trump tweeted:
The Democrats have been told, and fully understand, that there can be no DACA without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration & ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc. We must protect our Country at all cost!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017
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The President is shooting himself in the foot with some of the worst political strategy imaginable.
As Public Policy Policy pointed out in their reply to the President:
Support for DACA: 66%
Support for the wall: 37% https://t.co/CmDX4knQ1f— PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) December 29, 2017
The smart thing for any president to do in this situation would be to push for a fix to keep the Dreamers in the country. It would boost the approval rating of the reeling president and his party before a critical midterm election. However, Donald Trump has the worst instincts of any president in US history, so he is going to pretend like DACA is an episode of The Apprentice, and he is going to use “leverage” to get the Democrats to do what he wants.
What the President is missing is that it is the Democrats who have the leverage. They are on the side of the popular policy and are poised to retake all or part of Congress.
Trump promised that Mexico would pay for the wall, and Democrats are holding him to that promise. Republicans and Trump will pa
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
