Why Trump Sided With Democrats On The Debt Ceiling

Casting aside all the multi- dimensional chess chin- stroking explanations for why narcissist Man-Baby Donald "Rump" Trump decided to pull the rug out from under his Republican Congressional leadership when he agreed to the Schumer- Pelosi approach for a 3- month debt ceiling increase, Paul Waldman employs Occam's razor to find the truth:

The odds that he [Trump] has an actual opinion about the relative merits of a three-month increase versus an 18-month increase in the debt ceiling are near zero. The political subtleties of the current situation and the potential for a complicated set of challenges in December when the debt ceiling will have to be raised again are probably lost on him. But he knows he was mad at McConnell and Ryan, so making an agreement with the Democrats was kind of like a 5-year-old saying, "I wish Mr. Schumer and Ms. Pelosi were my parents!" when he didn't get to eat cookies for breakfast. Except this 5-year-old is the president of the United States.

Rump, when he tweets or acts precipitously as he appears to have during this meeting, should never be over- analyzed as being tactically or strategically astute. No, he should be seen the way Waldman sees him: as a 5- year- old who happens to be the "president." Sometimes it works to Democrats advantage, as in this instance. But someone as narcissistic and unmoored as Rump can never be trusted as a partner. Just ask Missy McConnell and Lyin' Ryan.

Mr. Loyalty

Yesterday's bizarre meeting in the Oval Office to discuss legislation extending the debt ceiling, including a continuing resolution to fund Government, and disaster relief had people scratching their heads. Erratic demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump pulled the rug out from under Squeaker of the House and Ayn Rand acolyte Paul "Lyin'" Ryan and Senate Majority Leader and human/turtle hybrid Mitch "Missy" McConnell when he unexpectedly accepted a 3-month extension proposed by Sen. Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. This was just hours after the Rethuglicans had insisted on an 18-month timeframe to put them beyond the 2018 mid-terms and the wrath of the voters.

Rump was apparently pleased to see the stunned looks on the faces of Lyin' and Missy, who have bobbled his "agenda" for 7 months, in no small measure because of his own incompetence. It's being reported that Rump was happy to see positive media coverage (=cough=  Fox & Friends =cough=) of his "bipartisan" deal, despite giving the Dems major leverage in December when the extension expires:

"Trump specifically mentioned TV segments praising the deal and indicated he'd been watching in a call with Schumer, two people said. And he was jovial in a call with Pelosi and agreed to send a tweet she asked for about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, these people said, while also mentioning the attention the deal had gotten. He indicated to both leaders he would be willing to work together again."

His pathological narcissism requires positive media coverage and feedback, and he knows that his cult-like base will follow him off of any cliff, so throwing the Rethug leaders under the bus is unimportant to him. But, knowing Rump's only loyalty is to himself, Dems need to watch for the occasion when they'll be tossed there, too.