Observers of U.S. politics are aflutter over President Donald Trump's overtures to the Democratic Party. After striking two deals in as many weeks with the opposition, there is talk of the realization of the promise of the Trump candidacy. Supporters assert that the president is stepping out of the straitjacket of party politics and governing as a real independent. That is an oversimplification, but these developments raise important questions, not just for Trump supporters but for Democrats who would do a deal with him.
The "new" Trump first emerged two weeks ago at a meeting with Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, heads of the Democratic Party in their respective chambers. Then, the president overruled his treasury secretary and ignored Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Paul Ryan, heads of the GOP in their chambers — and the men who ostensibly run them — and agreed to a short-term, three-month debt ceiling increase as the Democrats suggested. (Republicans sought a longer extension to eliminate that issue as a point of contention; a three-month deal merely postpones a final reckoning and preserves Democratic leverage in the process.)
The agreement secured Democratic support for legislation to help victims of Hurricane Harvey. Trump praised the Democratic deal-makers and then gave Heidi Heitkamp, a Democratic senator from North Dakota, a boost during an appearance in her state to talk up tax reform, calling her "a good woman." That praise makes no sense to Republicans who consider Heitkamp a vulnerable Democrat when the GOP and Trump need every possible seat in the Senate.