Policy expert Ryan Streeter on Wednesday said that Republican voters will support the president if he signs a deal from Democratic and Republican lawmakers to avert another government shutdown.
“Republicans are very loyal to this president,” Streeter, the director of domestic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on “What America’s Thinking.”
“If he goes that way, and then we go back into the field with another poll and we ask people if they think it was the right thing, my guess is most Republicans would say it’s the right thing, even those who say now they don’t want him to do it,” he continued.
The deal, which was reached by a bipartisan group on Monday, includes $1.375 billion to build 55 miles of barriers along the border in the Rio Grande Valley, well below the $5.7 billion Trump has been demanding in recent weeks.
While Trump said he was not thrilled with the deal on Tuesday, on Wednesday he said he does not want to see another government shutdown, indicating that he might sign the measure.
“I think it would be a policy and political mistake for the president to reject this deal,” Streeter said. “He’s sending signals that that’s where he’s headed.”
However, Trump’s usual allies in conservative media have slammed the deal, calling it weak.
“We thought Trump was going to be different,” conservative commentator Ann Coulter said in a tweet.
You mean: “Only in the Republican Party ..” Democrats need $1.3 billion and end up giving themselves $25 billion (of your money).
We thought Trump was going to be different. https://t.co/vf5r2V8SZR
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) February 13, 2019
— Julia Manchester
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