Chuck Schumer, President Trump didn't talk much in first 100 days

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s phone call to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer after ordering airstrikes in Syria marked the first time the two had talked in a couple of months, according to Schumer.

Trump shouted out “hello, Chuck” at a White House reception for senators and their spouses in late March, but Schumer said “that was the whole conversation.”

Despite their party differences, the fellow New Yorkers’ relationship once looked surprisingly promising, with Trump praising Schumer in November on Twitter. But leading up to Trump’s 100th day in office, the two spoke infrequently and their only sign of collaboration came in uniting against a Canadian dairy policy that hurts New York farmers.

“We sent him our infrastructure plan and our family leave plan and we haven’t heard anything back,” Schumer said in an April 13 interview. “I said to him, ‘I’d like to work with you on China, because I want to be tough on China,’ but we haven’t heard anything from that either.”

Trump has said he is willing to work with Democrats on health care and other issues, and he has met with several Democrats to discuss drug prices and to round up votes to confirm Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

“The president is committed to big and bold reform and if Democrats are interested in changing Washington then he is willing to work with them,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Trump spokeswoman, wrote in an in an email.

In November, it looked as though Trump considered Schumer to be his kind of Democrat.

Shortly after Schumer was elected minority leader, Trump tweeted that he had “always had a good relationship” with Schumer. He called Schumer “far smarter” than the retiring Senate minority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., with an “ability to get things done. Good news!”

Trump previously donated to Schumer’s campaigns, and the New York Post reported on Jan. 1 that Trump told Schumer he liked him more than House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

But that good will quickly took a sharp turn in January, with Trump labeling Schumer the Democrats’ “head clown” on Twitter when Schumer attacked Republican plans to repeal Obamacare.

Then Trump came up with “Fake Tears Chuck Schumer” after Schumer teared up while talking about Trump’s travel ban on some refugees and immigrants.

"I’m going to ask him who was his acting coach, because I know him very well," Trump said during a January meeting with business owners. "I don’t see him as a crier."

Schumer said flattery or name calling doesn’t affect him.

“If there are sincere efforts to negotiate, without making us forsake our values, fine,” he said. “That has not happened thus far.”

As progressives call for full resistance of the Trump agenda, Schumer repeatedly says he will not oppose everything the administration does, “just because it has the name ‘Trump’ on it.”

For instance, airstrikes against Syria after dictator Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons attack on his people were “appropriate,” Schumer said, and Trump’s pick for Defense secretary, retired Marine Corps. Gen. Jim Mattis, was a “good choice.”

Schumer also praised Trump for speaking out against a “protectionist” dairy policy in Canada that’s hurting U.S. farmers, a home-state issue for Schumer. Trump called Schumer on April 20 to discuss a response, according to Schumer’s office.

"I was very glad that the president made a point of this," he said.

But given Trump’s campaign promises, Schumer said he would have thought they could work together on other issues.

In November, Schumer suggested they could possibly complete a “major infrastructure bill” in the first 100 days, but he now says he’s “disappointed” Trump didn’t respond to Democrats’ plan. Both want a $1 trillion infrastructure investment, though they differ on how to pay for it.

Another disappointment is Trump’s approach to China, a country that is “stealing our wealth and stealing our jobs” by keeping the value of its currency artificially low, Schumer said. Trump reversed his campaign pledge to label China a currency manipulator because he says the country is working with the U.S. to confront North Korea’s missile buildup.

“I told him he should be tough on President Xi of China because China is killing us,” Schumer said.

On the Senate floor Monday, Schumer said Trump also broke campaign promises to American workers by filling his Cabinet with billionaires and bankers, backing a health care bill —“Trumpcare” — that provides fewer benefits at a higher cost, and proposing a budget that’s a “dagger to the heart of the middle class.”

Republicans say Democrats engaged in “historic” obstruction by slowing the confirmation process of Trump’s Cabinet picks and they blame Democrats for blocking Trump’s agenda. Rep. Chris Collins, one of Trump's top supporters in Congress, said Trump now has "no relationship" with Schumer, and not because the president doesn't want one.

"Democrats have gone on a temper tantrum about his election to the point we've never seen before in this country and Sen. Schumer has been an obstructionist as a minority leader," said Collins, R-N.Y.  "He is looking to the midterm elections, he is placating (Sen.) Bernie Sanders, he's moved very far left."

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Trump has two problems when it comes to working with Democrats, said Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. The first is that in the House, Ryan doesn’t want to build coalitions unless he has no alternative. The second: Trump’s idea that he can “blackmail or bludgeon” Democrats to the table using his own power, “which has no basis in reality.” For instance, Democrats “would be insane” to agree to paying for a border wall because Trump threatened to withhold health subsidy payments.

“Trump has no clue about how he’ll approach Democrats,” Ornstein said. “Can they find some areas where they can work together? Yeah. But that would also require a lot of concessions up front on Trump’s part.”

Schumer said part of his role as the Senate’s Democratic leader is holding Trump accountable. He led his party’s opposition to many of Trump’s nominees, frustrating his attempts to quickly fill his Cabinet. And Schumer led messaging against Trump’s top campaign goal — repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act — branding the GOP plan “Trumpcare” that will “Make America Sick Again.”

Schumer said he has repeatedly told Trump that if he governs as he campaigned — as a populist against the Republican and Democratic establishments — that he will accomplish “really good things.” But he’ll have trouble if he shifts positions to the “special interests hard right.”

“So far, he seems to be taking that second path, unfortunately,” Schumer said.

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