Isolated, Trump embraces New York friends – and instincts

President Donald Trump, who has struggled to find friends and navigate the ways of Washington, appears increasingly at home when surrounded by one distinct group: His fellow New Yorkers.

Half a dozen people who have met with the President or speak with him regularly say the former real estate executive is most energized by and at ease in the presence of people who hail from his home state. They cite a range of cultural factors, including the naturally blunt demeanor that New Yorkers are famous for, as well as overlapping sensibilities on political issues like infrastructure and spending.

Trump’s affinity for other New Yorkers led directly to an unexpected political deal last week with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – a Brooklyn-born Democrat.

If the abrupt agreement on hurricane funding, the debt ceiling and government spending shocked Republican leaders and even some of the President’s most senior staff, New Yorkers who have spent time with the two men didn’t bat an eye. It is no coincidence, they say, that Trump would have landed his first legislative deal with perhaps the one person in Washington who embodies New York as much as Trump does.

“If you were at a baseball game in Cincinnati, two New Yorkers in the crowd would easily identify each other. Based on what they’re saying, their mannerisms, a little bit of bravado,” said New York City Councilman Joe Borelli, who represents Staten Island and co-chaired Trump’s New York campaign. “Both men are eager to cut through the BS – that is characteristically New York.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who helped broker the agreement, quipped to reporters afterward about Schumer: “He could speak New York to the President.”

Both Schumer and Pelosi were invited for dinner at the White House with Trump Wednesday evening, with topics like immigration and tax reform expected to be discussed. Trump told reporters ahead of that meal that while he is a “conservative,” he wants to “give it a shot” at trying to do some bipartisan things.

Only a matter of time

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Updated 3:46 PM EDT, Wed September 13, 2017

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Schumer on working with Trump

00:23 - Source: CNN

Some New Yorkers say it was only a matter of time before Trump and Schumer would form a natural alliance, in no small part built on their shared roots. And there is a political history there, too, for the media-savvy and outspoken duo – Trump has previously contributed to several of Schumer’s election campaigns.

GOP Rep. Peter King told CNN that while Congress was stalled for months on health care reform earlier this year, he repeatedly urged Schumer to get into a room with Trump and do what New Yorkers claim they do best: Make deals. King, a veteran congressman who represents a patch of Long Island, said the two men share stereotypically New York temperaments.

Asked to describe what it means to “speak New York,” King swiftly rattled off: “It means basically finishing each other’s sentences. It means talking fast. It means getting to the point. It means making the occasional exaggeration. It means having a big ego.”

Trump’s instinct to surround himself with other New Yorkers has come up again and again. He named Anthony Scaramucci, a New York financier and donor, as his White House communications director before firing him days later; he looked to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a candidate for secretary of state and former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly to be FBI director; and he plucked two men from the New York finance orbit – Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn – to advise him on economic matters.

In learning to navigate Congress’ diverse legislative body, the President’s unique comfort around New Yorkers has also been evident. In a meeting with congressional Republicans in March to sell the GOP health care plan, King recalled that Trump made a comment to one lawmaker from the South who was not supporting the bill – remarks that the President quickly appeared to think “went too far.”

“I didn’t mean anything personal by that,” Trump told that congressman, according to King. “Ask Pete King! We grew up together in Queens … We talk this way all the time to each other. That’s the way it is.” (King insisted as a side note that he and Trump grew up in different parts of Queens.)

So far, Trump’s Washington crash course hasn’t been pretty. Not yet a year in the White House, the President has fumed at how impossibly difficult it is to pass legislation through Congress, mused that policy is more complicated than he ever imagined and openly feuded with more than a few Republicans.

Trump has at times even shown disdain for the ways of Washington, a town where hierarchies matter and rules surrounding political etiquette are in abundance.

Not only has he demonstrated a lack of familiarity with the legislative process, the President has repeatedly suggested that governing would be as straightforward – and familiar to him – as making business deals. This year, Trump vastly underestimated how long it would take Republicans in Congress to send him a bill to repeal Obamacare.

With those repeal efforts now most certainly doomed, Trump is likely to face more reality checks.

“I do believe that the President may feel some frustrations that things take so slowly to happen in Washington. A lot of the things he’d like to get to – tax reform, infrastructure – are taking longer than I think he expected,” said Rep. Dan Donovan, another GOP member of the New York congressional delegation who has known Trump since the 1990s. “The President is used to things moving a lot quicker than they do in Washington.” ?

Home crowd

President-elect Donald Trump has been in the spotlight for years. From developing real estate and producing and starring in TV shows, he became a celebrity long before winning the White House.

Trump at age 4. He was born in 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump in New York City. His father was a real estate developer.

Trump, left, in a family photo. He was the second-youngest of five children.

Trump, center, stands at attention during his senior year at the New York Military Academy in 1964.

Trump, center, wears a baseball uniform at the New York Military Academy in 1964. After he graduated from the boarding school, he went to college. He started at Fordham University before transferring and later graduating from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania's business school.

Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York's economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating college in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City.

Trump attends an event to mark the start of construction of the New York Convention Center in 1979.

Trump wears a hard hat at the Trump Tower construction site in New York in 1980.

Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977 to 1990, when they divorced. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.

The Trump family, circa 1986.

Trump uses his personal helicopter to get around New York in 1987.

Trump stands in the atrium of the Trump Tower.

Trump attends the opening of his new Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal, in 1989.

Trump signs his second book, "Trump: Surviving at the Top," in 1990. Trump has published at least 16 other books, including "The Art of the Deal" and "The America We Deserve."

Trump and singer Michael Jackson pose for a photo before traveling to visit Ryan White, a young child with AIDS, in 1990.

Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999 and had one daughter together, Tiffany.

Trump putts a golf ball in his New York office in 1998.

An advertisement for the television show "The Apprentice" hangs at Trump Tower in 2004. The show launched in January of that year. In January 2008, the show returned as "Celebrity Apprentice."

A 12-inch talking Trump doll is on display at a toy store in New York in September 2004.

Trump attends a news conference in 2005 that announced the establishment of Trump University. From 2005 until it closed in 2010, Trump University had about 10,000 people sign up for a program that promised success in real estate. Three separate lawsuits -- two class-action suits filed in California and one filed by New York's attorney general -- argued that the program was mired in fraud and deception. Trump's camp rejected the suits' claims as "baseless." And Trump has charged that the New York case against him is politically motivated.

Trump attends the U.S. Open tennis tournament with his third wife, Melania Knauss-Trump, and their son, Barron, in 2006. Trump and Knauss married in 2005.

Trump wrestles with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania in 2007. Trump has close ties with the WWE and its CEO, Vince McMahon.

For "The Apprentice," Trump was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2007.

Trump appears on the set of "The Celebrity Apprentice" with two of his children -- Donald Jr. and Ivanka -- in 2009.

Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump had been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996.

In 2012, Trump announces his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Trump speaks in Sarasota, Florida, after accepting the Statesman of the Year Award at the Sarasota GOP dinner in August 2012. It was shortly before the Republican National Convention in nearby Tampa.

Trump appears on stage with singer Nick Jonas and television personality Giuliana Rancic during the 2013 Miss USA pageant.

In June 2015, during a speech from Trump Tower, Trump announced that he was running for President. He said he would give up "The Apprentice" to run.

Trump -- flanked by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz -- speaks during a CNN debate in Miami on March 10. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May.

The Trump family poses for a photo in New York in April.

Trump speaks during a campaign event in Evansville, Indiana, on April 28. After Trump won the Indiana primary, his last two competitors dropped out of the GOP race.

Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July, accepting the party's nomination for President. "I have had a truly great life in business," he said. "But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country -- to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people."

Trump faces Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate, which took place in Hempstead, New York, in September.

Trump apologizes in a video, posted to his Twitter account in October, for vulgar and sexually aggressive remarks he made a decade ago regarding women. "I said it, I was wrong and I apologize," Trump said, referring to lewd comments he made during a previously unaired taping of "Access Hollywood." Multiple Republican leaders rescinded their endorsements of Trump after the footage was released.

Trump walks on stage with his family after he was declared the election winner on November 9. "Ours was not a campaign, but rather, an incredible and great movement," he told his supporters in New York.

Trump is joined by his family as he is sworn in as President on January 20.

Donald Trump's rise

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The day after Trump announced his surprise deal with Schumer and Pelosi last week, he gathered with various New York and Jersey officials in the White House to discuss a transportation project called the Gateway Program. The conversation was as free-flowing and upbeat as one could expect from a presidential meeting, multiple sources in the room said, and the affectionate interactions between Trump and Schumer were described by King as “almost like a love-in.”

“He was in his home crowd there,” said Donovan, who participated in that meeting.??

That is in contrast to the tensions that have bubbled up in the first year of the administration between Trump and congressional GOP leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. One recent infamous phone call between Trump and McConnell even devolved into a shouting match.

But with officials from New York and New Jersey in the audience, the infrastructure meeting last week put Trump squarely in his comfort zone.

“There’s Midwestern sensibilities and then there’s New York sensibilities,” said Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, who was also in attendance. “In some of these meetings, everyone waits their turn and waits for their moment. Here, it was: ‘OK, Mr. President, here’s the deal. Here’s why this has to happen.’ And the President in turn had the same approach.”

For Republicans who are still reeling from Trump’s startling deal last week, the most pressing concern is whether the President will continue to reach across the aisle to Schumer and others in the coming months – and worse, keep on freestyling.

Soon after the agreement with Schumer and Pelosi was made public, Trump relished the bipartisan spirit, and was soon back on the phone with the two Democratic leaders.

With Republican lawmakers looking to tackle their next agenda item – tax reform – Trump invited three Democrats to dinner at the White House Tuesday evening, as well as Schumer and Pelosi Wednesday evening.

Schumer, for his part, said he is realistic about the fact that Trump’s bipartisan outreach last week could very well be an “aberration.” But there is one thing about his relationship with Trump that is not that, he noted.?

“Look, Trump and I have gone at each other for a long time, he’s called me some names,” Schumer said on The New York Times podcast “The New Washington.” “But the one thing we’ve had is we’re New Yorkers. We’re pretty direct and we talk right at each other. And it worked.”