Hot Mic Catches Schumer On Trump Deal: ‘He Likes Us! He Likes Me Anyway’

UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 28: Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., conducts a news conference after the Senate Policy luncheons in the Capitol, February 28, 2017. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ R... UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 28: Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., conducts a news conference after the Senate Policy luncheons in the Capitol, February 28, 2017. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was heard saying Thursday morning that President Donald Trump “likes us” and that “it’s going to work out,” perhaps referring to a potential deal shielding young undocumented people from deportation.

The comment was picked up by a CSPAN microphone and broadcast live.

“He likes us!” Schumer is heard saying, referring to Trump. “He likes me, anyway.”

“Look, what we said was exactly accurate,” Schumer continues. “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 seems to ask an unintelligible question, to which Schumer responds: “Oh, it’s going to work out, and it’ll make us more productive, too.”

The remark came after Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi met with Trump over dinner Wednesday, without any other top Republicans present aside from members of Trump’s Cabinet. Afterward, both Trump and the Democratic leaders hinted that they had agreed to pursue a deal that would shield DACA recipients from deportation while also beefing up border security. Trump said later that his politically toxic border wall would “come later,” further enraging Republicans, who saw it as another departure from a key campaign promise.

It’s still far from likely that Trump will sign legislation protecting those whose work permits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival Program will begin expiring in six months. Trump ended the program on Sept. 5 and told Congress to “legalize” it, but he could also be simply passing the buck for a wave of deportations to come.

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