September 13, 2017

Did Trump Agree to Protect Dreamers Without Building the Wall?

Democrats say he did. The White House says he didn’t.

Bill Clark/Congressional Quarterly/Newscom via ZUMA

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Democratic Minority Leaders Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) had dinner at the White House tonight and later announced that they’d reached some sort of agreement with President Donald Trump that would involve extending DACA protections and strengthening border security, but not include funding for a border wall.

It sounds to me like this actually is not that close to a real agreement, and they have to work out all the things that come with working out actual agreements. But if this is true and such a deal actually happens, it would seem to suggest that Trump has caved on building the wall.

A White House official gave a statement on background that doesn’t deny this, but also doesn’t mention a deal being struck.

Update, 10:30 p.m. ET: The White House is now disputing Schumer and Pelosi’s account of the meeting, saying that “excluding the wall was certainly not agreed to.”

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