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No one was surprised when Donald Trump condemned the bipartisan compromise on border policy and security aid. The former president has spent weeks publicly and privately lobbying against the deal — not because the Republican had substantive concerns, but because he didn’t want President Joe Biden to have yet another legislative success on a prominent issue.
With this in mind, after the bipartisan legislation was unveiled on Sunday night, Trump took his public-relations offensive to another level, condemning the bill during a Newsmax interview, and using his social media platform to slam the package as a “trap for Republicans.”
But as part of the former president’s push, he also published a missive that touched on his preferred legislative strategy:
“Don’t be STUPID!!! We need a separate Border and Immigration Bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape, or form!”
Or put another way, Trump publicly condemned the legislative tactic embraced by his own GOP allies.
It might seem like ancient history, but in the fall, Democratic leaders were prepared to advance an emergency package that would’ve provided security support for, among others, U.S. allies in Ukraine. It was Republicans who balked — and endorsed an alternative approach. Punchbowl News reported on Nov. 8:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declared in no uncertain terms on Tuesday that Republicans won’t support a massive foreign-aid package — including Ukraine funding — without a GOP-approved fix for the U.S.-Mexico border. This includes policy changes, as well as more money. “Everybody knows how strongly I feel about helping Ukraine — and Israel,” McConnell told reporters. “[But] the border needs to be a part of it if it’s going to clear the Senate.”
To be sure, this wasn’t the GOP leader’s first choice, but McConnell’s far-right members — the ones aligned with Trump and his political operation — left him with no choice. The Punchbowl News report from November added, “Ukraine has become so toxic for the GOP base that even the party’s staunchest Ukraine supporters feel they can’t justify any new spending on its own. Hence the border-security demands.”
Democrats agreed to package the unrelated priorities in the hopes of satisfying Republicans and keeping GOP officials working toward an important goal. It’s against this backdrop that Trump wants to separate the priorities and ensure they’re not tied together “in any way, shape, or form.”
After months of drama, negotiations, concessions, and compromise, Trump has ended up with effectively the same position many Democrats held in September.