Trump at Camp David

Donald Trump headed for the splendid isolation of his Camp David presidential retreat on Friday after the bombshell book that rocked his administration hit shops across the US.

Trump will hope to leave behind the acrimony of Washington laid bare in journalist Michael Wolff’s account and concentrate on policy and looming elections in talks with congressional Republican leaders.

  Guardian

Leave it behind? Are you kidding? Have you seen his tweets this morning? He thrives on acrimony.

The president will strive to steady the ship when he holds talks with the House speaker, Paul Ryan, and Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, at the rustic Camp David in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountain this weekend.

Somebody didn't read the book. Trump stirs the water, not steadies the ship.

Ryan is eager to scale back the nation’s entitlement programmes, such as food stamps and housing subsidies, a move likely to prove popular with conservative campaign donors. Trump has said he wants to tackle welfare reform but McConnell is wary of the idea, saying publicly that it is unlikely to be taken up this year.

I wouldn't think so. Not with the midterms coming in November. And they still have to negotiate a budget on a January 19 deadline that should have been agreed upon months ago.

In a chamber that he controls just 51-49, McConnell would need nine Democratic votes – a highly improbable scenario. Democrats have condemned welfare reform as an attempt to pay for recent tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.

An alternative priority is Trump’s much-talked about $1tn infrastructure plan, which has potential for bipartisan support that could be useful in an election year. But Democrats have shown little enthusiasm for Republican ideas of financing it by cutting other programmes.

Trump has stirred up so much shit, the list of things that need to be addressed immediately will put anything like infrastructure that can be pushed back to the bottom of the page.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.