President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders agreed Tuesday to work together on a $2 trillion infrastructure package — but put off for later the difficult question of how to pay for it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said there was “goodwill in the meeting” — a marked departure from the last meeting between Trump, Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which ended with Trump walking out. Schumer said the two sides agreed that infrastructure investments create jobs and make the United States more competitive economically with the rest of the world.
Most importantly, Schumer said, “we agreed on a number.”
“Originally, we had started a little lower. Even the president was eager to push it up to $2 trillion, and that is a very good thing,” Schumer said.
Added Pelosi: “We did come to one agreement: that the agreement would be big and bold.”
Trump asked leading Democrats to discuss launching an ambitious building program that has been a rare area of potential bipartisan accord with liberals. Trump has long promised a big infrastructure plan.
The dozen Democratic lawmakers in the meeting with the president called it a constructive start. They said Trump agreed that infrastructure investments should go beyond roads and bridges and include broadband, water systems, and enhancements to the electrical grid.
Trump and Democrats will meet again in three weeks when they’ll discuss how to pay for the projects. The nation’s top business groups and labor unions support increasing the federal gasoline tax, currently 18.3 cents a gallon. It was last raised in 1993.
Asked whether Trump supports raising the gas tax, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said before the meeting: “This president is the guy who lowers taxes.”
Trump, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, adviser Ivanka Trump and a half-dozen other administration officials met with the 12 Democrats in the Cabinet Room.
Infrastructure is seen as the one issue with the best chance for the two sides to work together this Congress — and even that isn’t given good odds for a fruitful ending.
The meeting played out against the backdrop of high tensions over escalating Democratic investigations following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian meddling. Lawmakers and the Republican president also have on eye on the 2020 elections, meaning every provision of an infrastructure package — including how to pay for it — will be made with that in mind.
A compromise could offer political benefits to both sides — if conservatives accept the spending hike. Trump’s re-election prospects are tied to a strong economy that would get another boost from new road and bridge projects.
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The Associated Press contributed to this article