Trump wants Congress to quickly approve his North American trade deal, but his own team is divided over how to force a reluctant Democratic-controlled House to act
‘We need Congress to approve the USMCA,’ Vice President Mike Pence said this week, referring to the North American trade deal. Photo: John D. Simmons/Associated Press By Michael C. Bender and Alex Leary May 24, 2019 1:58 p.m. ET WASHINGTON—
Mr. Pence in particular offered a play-by-play of the hostile Trump-Pelosi meeting over infrastructure on Wednesday, complained about media coverage and asked business leaders to pressure Democrats to halt their investigations into the president. “It surprised a lot of people,” one participant in the meeting said. “It really wasn’t the time or place to launch a defense of the president.”
The White House played down differences in the approach. The U.S. trade representative “is working closely with Congress and the speaker’s office to advance the USMCA,” spokesman Hogan Gidley said. “Ambassador Lighthizer and the vice president are on the same page and any suggestion to the contrary is completely false.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi controls when the trade deal will be considered by her chamber. Photo: Matt Slocum/Associated Press “She’s got to get up to snuff, learn the bill,” he said, adding that Mr. Lighthizer was “being very nice to her, because she’s a mess.” Mrs. Pelosi hit back on Twitter: “When the “extremely stable genius” starts acting more presidential, I’ll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues.
If Congress doesn’t move, the president may be inclined to follow through on his threat to simply withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement. He has argued that things “worked very well” before the accord went into effect in 1994. Mr. Pence’s team is led by Marc Short, his chief of staff, who has experience working with Congress as Mr. Trump’s first legislative-affairs director. Mr. Short and others want to apply pressure on Democrats in Republican-leaning and agriculture-heavy districts.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Tensions with China help U.S. see importance of North American trade: Mexican officialTense U.S.-China relations are helping the United States understand the importan...
Read more »
USTR sees progress in talks on North American trade deal vote: senatorsRepublican senators said on Tuesday that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighth...
Read more »
Ice hockey: Top women's players form union, seek North American leagueTop women's hockey players from around the world have formed a union to sup...
Read more »
'John Wick 3' dethrones 'Avengers: Endgame' with $57 million'John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum' not only did far exceed expectations, but it's also a franchise best that nearly doubled the opening of the second film, which itself doubled the opening of the first film from 2014.
Read more »
A North Carolina city is suing an RV retailer over its ‘gigantic’ American flag. They still won't take it downA North Carolina city says Gander RV's American flag is too big. CEO Marcus Lemonis, host of CNBC's 'The Profit,' says he will not remove it.
Read more »
The Justice Department Is Arguing Congress Can't Sue The Trump Administration At AllA federal judge in Washington, DC, heard arguments on Thursday in House Democrats' lawsuit challenging Trump's plan to reprogram billions in federal funds to build a border wall.
Read more »
Trump administration may use Iran threat to sell bombs to Saudis without Congress' approval: senator'I am hearing that Trump may use an obscure loophole in the Arms Control Act and notice a major new sale of bombs to Saudi Arabia (the ones they drop in Yemen) in a way that would prevent Congress from objecting. In this case, they said the Republican president would cite rising tensions with Iran
Read more »
Trump may sidestep Congress on Saudi arms deal, drawing fresh warnings from Republicans and DemocratsThe president has signaled that he may invoke emergency authority to complete weapons sales that lawmakers have temporarily blocked.
Read more »
A week of Trump-fueled dysfunction leaves Congress gaspingAn infrastructure meeting imploded, budget talks stalled and a disaster aid deal only barely survived.
Read more »