Dem senator: Trump ‘very serious’ about infrastructure

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) described her dinner with President Trump and praised him for being “serious” about rebuilding America’s infrastructure in a new interview published Sunday.

Heitkamp told AM 970 in New York that she expects more “bipartisan” discussions and legislation from Trump in the future, and that infrastructure could be an avenue for such deals.

“We also talked about infrastructure,” Heitkamp said. “The president … is very serious about doing more with infrastructure.”

Heitkamp added that she hopes to work with Trump and the GOP on tax reform as well.

“The president realizes that the best policy comes from bipartisan discussions,” she said. “[We] really spent a lot of time visiting about what our expectations were for tax reform. Tried to figure out where the sweet spot is.”

{mosads}The North Dakota Democrat predicted that the GOP will delay producing a bill for reforming the tax code, however, citing deep divisions within the Republican Party on how to move forward.

“There is a promise that we will see [a bill] by the 25th of September. I would be surprised,” Heitkamp said. “[The Republicans] are having a hard time coming to agreement on things.”

She told host John Catsimatidis that any tax reform that includes Democratic votes must work for the middle class, not just the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. Heitkamp expressed this view to Trump at their meeting, she said.

“One of the things that all three of the Democrats [at the dinner with Trump] impressed on the Administration is that this has to be a middle-class tax cut. This cannot be a tax cut for the wealthiest among us,” Heitkamp said.

“We are excited about that commitment,” she added. “Bipartisanship can work as long as you have … respect for varying opinions and you are willing to listen.”