President Donald Trump ‘likes me,’ Chuck Schumer tells aides
Sen. Charles Schumer speaks on Sept. 10, 2017. Credit: John Roca
WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday morning told his aides about the dinner that he and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had with President Donald Trump the night before, and said, “He likes us. He likes me, anyway.”
That conversation occurred at a little after 10 a.m. when Schumer arrived on the Senate floor and was picked up from microphones by C-SPAN, which broadcasts sessions of the Senate and House on its television station and through streaming video.
“Look, what we said was exactly accurate,” Schumer said. “Here’s what I told him. I said, ‘Mr. President, you’re much better off if you can sometimes step right, and sometimes step left. If you have to step just in one direction, you’re boxed.’ He gets that.”
An aide spoke in a voice too soft to be heard, and Schumer responded: “Oh, it’s going to work out, and it’ll make us more productive, too.”
The conversation occurred before the reactions and disagreements about what was said or not said at the White House dinner, which focused largely on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Schumer spokesman Matt House declined to comment.
