Report: Trump threatens to veto any DACA immigration bill that veers from his 'four pillar' plan

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Today, we're getting a better sense of what "solving the DACA puzzle" might mean. According to a report from Axios, President Trump has threatened to veto any DACA solution that doesn't adhere to his four-pillar approach:

A senior administration official said Tuesday night that President Trump "will veto any bill that doesn’t advance his common-sense immigration reforms" — a hardening of the White House bargaining position as the Senate begins an epic debate. In discussing the White House's strategic thinking, the administration official asserted confidence on immigration, saying Democrats who resist Trump's approach will "be walking into a political suicide march."

• The administration official said: "The White House has claimed the mainstream, middle ground on immigration."
• "By opposing the president’s framework, Democrats are making it clear that they care more about donors than Dreamers."
• "Republicans have Democrats backed into a corner," the official added. "Democratic leaders are now catering to the far-left activist wing of their base."
• "Democrats are selling out American workers for open borders ... [T]he White House is making it clear that the Republican Party is the party of American workers."

Now, before we break that down, let's just acknowledge one thing. The source here is Axios. It's a left-leaning, millennial-friendly site founded by former Politico correspondents. It has no love for Trump. That said, all of this makes perfect sense.

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Trump's "four pillar" plan

Trump's "four pillar" plan involves:

1. Protections for current DACA recipients.
2. Funding and building "The Wall."
3. An end to "chain migration."
4. An end to lottery-based visas.

Basically, it's everything Democrats hate - attached to a juicy carrot that their base absolutely demands. It is, to be blunt, the most poisonous of poison pills for the left. It's also a pretty brilliant play that represents Trump's longstanding strategy of painting Dems into a corner by playing their frenzied base against their weary centrists. If Democrats reject this, they'll be portrayed as having chosen future illegals over current U.S. workers. That's going to sting in the November midterms. If they support it, their base will get their DACA protections but the party will be viewed as having caved on everything they promised to fight.

Chuck Schumer is suddenly NOT interested in "comprehensive immigration reform"

Most of Trump's demands were central to his winning 2016 campaign. If Congress sends the President something that doesn't satisfy, and he rejects it, DACA recipients will still be in trouble, and Trump's base will cheer his willingness to stick to his promises. In short, the Axios "source" is right. While Dems played to their radical wing, Trump took the mainstream middle ground, and a showdown will not do the left any favors. It's the political equivalent of the Kobayashi Maru, and the fact that Chuck Schumer is suddenly NOT interested in "comprehensive immigration reform" tells you they know their position is weak. The million-dollar question for Democrats is: Do they believe Trump's alleged VETO threat is legitimate, or do they think it's a negotiation tactic designed to push the negotiations as far into his corner as possible?

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