55 minutes at the table: Trump tries to negotiate and prove stability

[DonViejo]

By Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker January 9 at 7:45 PM

He acted the part, listening intently and guiding the conversation with the control of a firm but open-minded executive. He spoke the part, offering a mix of jesting bon mots and high-minded appeals for bipartisanship. And he looked the part, down to the embroidered “45” on his starched white shirt cuff.

In short, President Trump on Tuesday tried to show that he could do his job.

With his afternoon immigration meeting with lawmakers — into which he invited the press corps to watch for nearly an hour — Trump sought to definitively answer the question that has been nagging at him for the past week: Is the 71-year-old mentally fit to be commander in chief?

And for the 55 minutes that the scene unfolded on television, the president demonstrated stability, although not necessarily capability. In trying to erase one set of queries (is he up for the job and a “very stable genius,” as he claimed on Twitter?), he inadvertently opened another: What, exactly, is going to be in that immigration bill?

On that, Trump left a cliffhanger.

The former reality television star made the unilateral decision to allow journalists toting cameras and audio recorders into the West Wing’s Cabinet Room to watch him talk with lawmakers about one of the most in­trac­table and polarizing issues facing the government — what to do with the nearly 700,000 young undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers.” Their work permits are set to expire March 5 because of Trump’s decision to revoke President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fifty-five-minutes-at-the-table-trump-tries-to-negotiate-and-prove-stability/2018/01/09/0b41af64-f570-11e7-a9e3-ab18ce41436a_story.html

[OldHippieChick]

1. I heard later on Morning Joe that the WH had issued a transcript of

the meeting and had edited it, leaving out a crucial piece. I was only partially listening and did not catch what the crucial piece was and cannot find a reference on their website. Did anyone else catch that?

[unblock]

2. it went well until he said "i'm firing one of you. each of you, tell me why it shouldn't be you!"

[Jakes Progress]

3. I bet he needed about five diet cokes after that ordeal.

Whew! 55 minutes of work, sitting, talking, shaking his head. What a workout.

[Sneederbunk]

4. Did he have an earpiece?