That’s how James Antle describes the president’s approach to his domestic priorities in a Washington Examiner column.
The new White House has given up on strategic patience when it comes to foreign affairs, but on domestic issues, President Trump seems to have nothing but time.
That was Trump’s argument on Tuesday when he was pressed on reports that he’s giving ground on border wall funding, and that other priorities, like Obamacare repeal, will also be delayed.
“Yeah, yeah sure, we have plenty of time, got a lot of time,” Trump said in response to a question about whether the big, beautiful wall he so often promised on the campaign trail would get built before the end of his term. A fight over its funding has been pushed to the fall, and maybe into next year, as both the White House and Capitol Hill seek to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the week.
It’s part of a broader pattern. Asked last week if there would be a healthcare vote by this coming Friday, Trump said it didn’t matter.
“Doesn’t matter if it’s next week. Next week, doesn’t matter,” Trump said. “It’ll happen. You’ll see what happens.”
Trump appeared open to delaying Obamacare repeal even further during a reception for conservative writers and reporters Monday evening.
“We could come back in September, but we’ll see what we get now,” the president said. Trump has dismissed appraisals of his first 100 days in office as “artificial,” “not very meaningful” and “ridiculous.”
