Harrop: Do you want Trump or the United States to succeed?

The 38 Republicans who thwarted Donald Trump’s demand to free him from the inconvenience of a debt ceiling vote early in his term were truly impressive. These are guys yours truly disagrees with most of the time.

What Trump’s smartest defenders actually believe is a matter of speculation. Scott Jennings worked for Normandy President George W. Bush. He clearly views his current job as left tackle, defending Trump from accusations of insanity, regardless of their merit.

So he lashed out at these deficit hawks for not complying with demands to remove a stumbling block to Trump’s obvious plans to cover his tax cuts and spending with new borrowing. . Jennings put it diplomatically, saying Trump “needs to convince them that teamwork is important.”

That’s true, but first you need to decide which team you belong to. Is it Team Trump or Team America? It’s not necessarily the same team.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas took issue with his colleagues’ willingness to let Trump off the debt ceiling. “I am absolutely sickened by a party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility,” he said, “and has the temerity to go to the American people and tell them that they think it’s fiscally responsible.”

Roy probably doesn’t agree with preserving the Affordable Care Act like I do, but it would be good for Team America. Trump will most likely work to eviscerate, if not kill, him. He attempted the first term and almost succeeded.

“Central question”

We should all agree that restoring law and order to our immigration program would benefit Team America. Trump talked a big game about it. I have my doubts.

His promise to also go after undocumented migrants who broke the laws, in addition to entering the country illegally, did not bear fruit. Who could be against this? For the record, Barack Obama deported far more “criminal aliens” than Donald Trump during his first term.

Trump now says he would also send new arrivals home, including those who otherwise would not have broken the law. But then Trump clashes with the wealthy interests who claim to need labor and who constitute his people.

The most important thing is to send the message that, from now on, anyone who sneaks across the border cannot stay. What causes the most pessimism about Trump’s commitment to ending illegal immigration in the future is his refusal to support E-Verify. E-Verify is an online database that allows employers to find out if a new employee can legally work in that country. So they could no longer accept false documents or assume that no authority would bother them.

E-Verify or something like it is the only way to cut off the jobs magnet that drives illegal immigration. As long as undocumented immigrants can find jobs in the United States, they will come here. And some are already saying that if Trump sends them home, they will just come back.

When asked about E-Verify during his first term, Trump responded, “E-Verify is so difficult that in some cases, like farmers, they’re not, they’re not equipped to E-Verify.” » The idea that farmers don’t know how to use computers is absurd. It is also insulting to farmers.

Returning to the present, Jennings asks “a central question.” (That seems so principled.) “What does the voter want?” he asked. “Do they want you to implement your ideology or do they want Donald Trump to succeed?

It was quite refreshing for some dissident Republicans to say that they represented their constituents, not Trump. Much of America has come a long way, and not in a good way, to equate one man’s interests with those of America.

Do they want Trump to succeed or America to succeed?