This combination of two file photos
shows U.S. President Donald Trump,
left, speaking during a roundtable
discussion on tax cuts in Cleveland,
Ohio, May 5, 2018 and North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un, right, talking
with South Korean President Moon
Jae-in in Panmunjom, South Korea,
April 27, 2018. U.S. Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo arrived in North
Korea on Wednesday, May 9, 2018, to
finalize details of a planned summit
between President Donald Trump and
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un. (AP
Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, Korea
Summit Press Pool via AP, File)
‘Everybody
plays
games’:
How
Trump
seesaws
on major
deals By
ANNE
FLAHERTY
APNews.com
WASHINGTON
- From
“Little
Rocket
Man” to
the
scheduling
of a
historic
peace
summit
and back
again,
President
Donald
Trump’s
dizzying
back-and-forth
on North
Korea is
par for
the
course
for a
president
who
likes to
keep his
audience
guessing.
As Trump
himself
said
Friday,
“Everybody
plays
games.”
Here’s a
look at
Trump’s
big
whiplash
moments
during
negotiating
deals in
his 17
months
in
office:
‘MEAN’
HEALTH
CARE
After
Trump
punctuated
nearly
every
campaign
speech
with
vows to
repeal
and
replace
President
Barack
Obama’s
health
care
law,
House
Republicans
in 2017
pushed
through
legislation
that
would do
exactly
that.
Surrounded
by
smiling
Republicans
in a
Rose
Garden
ceremony,
Trump
hailed
the
bill’s
passage
and
called
it a
“great
plan.”
Just
one
month
later
though,
he
flipped.
In a
private
meeting
with
Republican
senators,
he
called
the
legislation
“mean”
and said
the GOP
needs to
be “more
generous.”
The
House
bill
would
have cut
Medicaid
for
low-income
people
and
paved
the way
for
insurance
companies
to
charge
people
with
pre-existing
illnesses
far
higher
rates
than
healthy
customers,
as well
as boost
prices
for
older
people
based on
their
age.
Trump’s
about-face
on the
bill
confounded
House
Republicans
who said
they
thought
they
were
acting
on the
president’s
wishes
and were
left
exposed
to
Democratic
attack
ads
using
Trump’s
own
words
against
them.
“To
call a
bill
that he
pushed
‘mean’
leaves
us
scratching
our
heads,”
Rep.
Dave
Brat,
R-Va.,
said at
the
time.
Brat
said he
wondered
whether
Trump
was just
trying
to
“motivate”
the
Senate,
which
ultimately
fell shy
of
enough
votes to
pass it.
___
IT’S
‘OK’ TO
FIGHT
THE NRA
After
the
Florida
high
school
shooting
that
left 17
dead,
Trump
declared
he was
willing
to take
on the
National
Rifle
Association
on gun
legislation.
Among
his
ideas
was to
limit
assault
rifle
purchases
to
people
older
than 21
and
stricter
background
checks.
“You
guys,
half of
you are
so
afraid
of the
NRA,” he
told a
group of
state
governors
in
February.
“There’s
nothing
to be
afraid
of. And
you know
what? If
they’re
not with
you, we
have to
fight
them
every
once in
a while.
That’s
OK.”
In a
televised
meeting
with
lawmakers
the next
day,
Trump
praised
members
of the
gun
lobby as
“great
patriots”
but
declared
“that
doesn’t
mean we
have to
agree on
everything.
It
doesn’t
make
sense
that I
have to
wait
until
I’m 21
to get a
handgun,
but I
can get
this
weapon
at 18.”
He
then
turned
toward
Sen. Pat
Toomey,
R-Pennsylvania,
and
questioned
why
previous
gun
control
legislation
did not
include
that
provision.
“You
know
why?”
said
Trump,
answering
his own
question.
“Because
you’re
afraid
of the
NRA,
right?
Ha ha.”
His
statements
stunned
Republicans
and the
NRA,
considering
his
embrace
of their
agenda
throughout
his
campaign.
But
Trump’s
views
eventually
snapped
back
into
line
with the
gun
lobby,
and
earlier
this
month
the
president
gave a
rousing
address
to NRA
members
at their
annual
meeting.
“Your
Second
Amendment
rights
are
under
siege,
but they
will
never,
ever be
under
siege as
long as
I’m your
president,”
he said.
___
‘I’D
LOVE TO
SEE A
SHUTDOWN’
Earlier
this
year,
the
Senate’s
top
leaders
were
working
furiously
to stave
off
another
government
shutdown
when
Trump
unexpectedly
raised
the
possibility
of
orchestrating
one so
he could
get what
he
wanted
on
immigration.
“I’d
love to
see a
shutdown
if we
can’t
get this
stuff
taken
care
of,” he
said.
By
mid-March,
lawmakers
had what
they
believed
was a
final
$1.3
trillion
deal,
even
though
the bill
didn’t
pay for
Trump’s
border
wall or
address
the fate
of young
immigrants
known as
“Dreamers.”
Lawmakers
received
assurances
the
president
would
still
sign it,
and
Congress
broke
for
recess.
With
lawmakers
out of
town and
most
federal
funding
expiring
at
midnight,
Trump
tweeted
that he
was
“considering”
a veto
because
it
didn’t
act on
his
immigration
plan. He
then
announced
a news
conference
that
further
fueled
speculation,
until a
White
House
official
told
reporters
anonymously
that he
would
still
sign the
bill.
“I
will
never
sign
another
bill
like
this
again,”
he said.
___
‘EVERYBODY
PLAYS
GAMES’
Trump’s
Jell-O
negotiating
tactics
were on
display
this
week
after he
abruptly
canceled
his June
12
summit
with
North
Korean
Leader
Kim Jong
Un.
After
designating
Singapore
as the
meeting
spot,
the
White
House
ordered
commemorative
coins
with the
profiles
of Trump
and Kim
to
herald
the
“peace
talks.”
But
shortly
after a
top
North
Korean
foreign
ministry
official
called
Vice
President
Mike
Pence a
“political
dummy,”
Trump
backed
out. The
North
Korean
government
then
released
a
conciliatory
statement,
and
Trump
told
reporters
maybe
the
summit
will
happen
after
all — a
series
of
events
that
unfolded
in less
than 48
hours.
“Everybody
plays
games,”
he
quipped
to
reporters
on
Friday.
Republican
Sen.
Lindsey
Graham
of South
Carolina,
Trump’s
occasional
golf
partner,
told
NBC’s
“Today”
show
Friday
that he
believes
the
latest
standoff
will end
sooner
or
later,
possibly
with
U.S.
military
force.
“They
think
Trump is
just
like
everybody
else,”
Graham
said.
“He’s
not.”