Trump Reportedly Setting Up Obvious Trap for Democrats to Fall Into

The Hill reports that Donald Trump is “making overtures” to Democrats as they continue to hold an advantage in House polls. One thing this definitely won’t be, it’s safe to say, is a trap.

Per The Hill:

White House officials say they have begun preliminary talks internally — and with Democratic lawmakers — about areas where they could work together in 2019.

They also say the ball is in the Democrats’ court.

“The president’s always ready to deal. Always,” Shahira Knight, the White House legislative director, said in an interview with The Hill.

“There’s a chance that we’ll get along and get along well. We have a lot of things, like infrastructure, that they want and that I want,” Trump told Fox & Friends in one of the rare lucid moments during an otherwise unhinged rant last week.

At first glance, it might be a little surprising that, less than a month out from the election, the White House is publicly acknowledging the decreasing likelihood that the GOP is going to stay in control of the House of Representatives. In front of his adoring fans, of course, Trump is continuing to suggest that there’s going to be a “red wave”:

But the White House informally talking to Democrats about infrastructure should in no way be interpreted as Trump preparing for a Bill Clinton-style “pivot to the center.” You might remember that Trump’s idea of an infrastructure plan rested on $800 billion in incentives and tax breaks for rich people and corporations. Even so, Democrats are ecstatic at the idea of getting something—anything—done; Rep. Richard Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means committee, told The Hill that “Clearly, the administration might be able to move to do some infrastructure work with us.”

Trump and others in his administration are still pushing family separation of immigrants. The administration is continuing its sabotage of the Affordable Care Act in the courts. Trump and the GOP just put a man accused of sexual assault by multiple women onto the Supreme Court, and it’s much more likely that they’ll hang onto the Senate than the House, which could give them a third nominee before the 2020 election should something happen to Stephen Breyer or Ruth Bader Ginsburg. If the GOP loses the House, it’ll magically convince them of their need to moderate about as well as losing two presidential elections in a row in 2008 and 2012 did.

A much more likely scenario than Trump finding his inner moderate Republican is that Democrats, if they win, will do the bare minimum of due diligence in investigating the plethora of government abuses and grifting that surrounds the Trump administration, and Trump will cry and piss and moan about persecution and witch hunts like the giant toddler that he is. And given his clear preference for operating through executive orders even as he’s enjoyed the support of a unified government throughout his first two years, he’ll likely be encouraged to kick it into overdrive in order to bypass Congress.

No matter what happens on November 6, this shitshow isn’t going to end anytime soon. It’s better to embrace it and take on the horrible president that the majority of people in this country hate than to lend credence to the idea that the Deals Man is the one person who can end over a decade of gridlock. Let’s hope the Democrats don’t fall for this shtick.