Business as usual won’t fly for Trump
Experts say Donald deals need D.C. style, substance
WASHINGTON — The failure of the Republicans’ health care plan is a powerful lesson for President Trump — whose boasts of dealmaking prowess was at the core of his campaign — that his brash business style won’t translate to Washington victories on tax reform, infrastructure, border security or other priorities unless he makes some adjustments, strategists said.
“One of his great talents is his ability to negotiate, but Washington is different,” said conservative strategist Greg Mueller. “He’s used to doing business deals. But now it’s like every member of Congress has his or her own company. Instead of negotiating one deal you’re negotiating 535 of them.”
One lesson for Trump as he presses ahead: policy matters, not just bombast. Trump tried to rally — and even bully — Republicans to get in line behind the GOP’s proffered American Health Care Act, even as the substance of the plan remained in flux. Trump himself had little involvement with the content of the bill, choosing instead to focus on selling it to wary Republicans — in person and through Twitter threats — an effort that fell short.
“They have to do better from a substance standpoint,” GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak said of Trump and congressional Republicans. “There was a real sense that they were just throwing together something as a vehicle to get to the Senate, and that the Senate would do the more thorough job of legislating.”
As Trump moves on to other issues, particularly on tax reform, he has to focus on bringing conservative Freedom Caucus members on board much earlier in the process.
“It’s better if they start from a place of conservatism and then they can make concessions to get something over the finish line,” Mackowiak said.
Trump, who blamed Democrats for the failure of the Obamacare replacement bill, must also learn how to work with them, particularly if the Freedom Caucus members prove difficult to bring on board.
“If he decides not to let his party be held hostage by 30 people in the House Freedom Caucus, he needs to think of somewhere where he can pick up 30 votes somewhere else. And that requires him working with Democrats,” said Democratic strategist Steve McMahon.
Though Democratic congressional leaders have vowed to adamantly oppose Trump’s agenda, the tough election map they face in November could incentivize them to work with Trump on issues popular with voters, such as lowering taxes on the middle class or infrastructure plans to fix roads, bridges and railways.
“Even Bill Clinton has supported cutting the corporate tax rate,” said Mueller. “There are a lot of Democrats who can agree with that.”