[CTC] Trump suggests Pelosi is putting trade deal at risk

[Arthur Stamoulis]

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/471246-trump-suggests-pelosi-is-putting-trade-deal-at-risk <https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/471246-trump-suggests-pelosi-is-putting-trade-deal-at-risk>

Trump suggests Pelosi is putting trade deal at risk
By Brett Samuels
11/20/2019 
President Trump <https://thehill.com/people/donald-trump> on Wednesday ridiculed Speaker Nancy Pelosi <https://thehill.com/people/nancy-pelosi> (D-Calif.) and suggested she was putting a trade deal with Canada and Mexico at risk.

It marked the second consecutive day that the president went after Pelosi personally and accused her of stonewalling the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a signature effort of the Trump administration.

"Nancy Pelosi will go down as the least productive Speaker of the House in history," Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.

Trump claimed Mexico and Canada are "ready to flee" from the trade deal, though there's no indication officials from either country are prepared to abandon the deal. 

The Speaker said in a statement on Tuesday that House Democrats are still waiting for the USMCA deal to contain stronger worker protections.

Other Trump administration officials, such as National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow <https://thehill.com/people/lawrence-larry-kudlow>, have been complimentary <https://thehill.com/policy/finance/economy/470682-kudlow-very-optimistic-on-usmca-prospects> of Pelosi's handling of USMCA talks thus far saying she has been "cooperative and "accommodating" while expressing optimism the deal will ultimately pass.

But Trump has lashed out at the Speaker, particularly as the House impeachment inquiry has ramped up. On Tuesday, as public hearings played out in front of the House Intelligence Committee, Trump accused Pelosi of holding up the USMCA to secure Democratic support for impeachment.

"The woman is grossly incompetent. All she wants to do is focus on impeachment, which is just a little pipe dream she’s got. And she can keep playing that game," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting.

"And I’ve been told -- and who knows if this is so, but I think it’s so; I have pretty good authority on it -- that’s she’s using USMCA, because she doesn’t have the... impeachment votes," the president continued. "So she’s using USMCA to get the impeachment vote."

There's no evidence Pelosi has tied impeachment to the trade deal, and all but two Democrats in the House voted last month to support launching a formal impeachment inquiry.

Pelosi chief of staff Drew Hammill shot back at the president on Wednesday, tweeting that "Every Trump hit is a boost" for the Speaker. 

On Monday night, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the USMCA deal was still not where it needed to be to garner the support of labor groups, a key Democratic constituency.

"Close is not good enough. Not when millions of jobs are at stake. Not when lives and livelihoods hang in the balance," he said in a Maryland speech.

"Our allies on Capitol Hill understand that getting this done right is more important than getting it done fast," he added.

On Tuesday morning, Pelosi brought Trumka in for a meeting with freshman Democrats, many of whom hail from swing districts and are hoping for progress on a deal.

Asked Tuesday if she still felt a deal was "imminent," as she said previously, Pelosi said, "We’re in a positive place." 

Niv Elis contributed to this report which was updated at 9:19 a.m.

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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