Trump's Deal With Democrats Leaves GOP 'Shell-Shocked'

Nobody, it seems, saw it coming. In a meeting with leaders of both parties Wednesday, President Trump bucked the GOP and cut a deal with Democrats to keep the government open and lift the debt ceiling. Consider that prior to the meeting, Paul Ryan called the idea of a three-month extension "ridiculous," and during the meeting, Trump's own treasury secretary was arguing for a longer extension when the president interrupted him to agree with the Democrats, reports CNN. The story uses phrases such as "shell-shocked" to describe the GOP reaction. An analysis at the New York Times calls the scenario that played out the "worst nightmare" for conservatives, that in which "political novice" Trump goes into deal-making mode and forsakes principles. "Talk about burning bridges with the grass roots," says Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks. Related coverage:

• Mnuchin's surprise: NBC News has details on the talks in the Oval Office and the moment Trump cut in on Treasury's Steven Mnuchin, who was left "wounded" and "surprised" by the president's contradiction of him. Later, though, Mnuchin said he "could not be happier" with the deal.
• Ivanka's appearance: NBC says Trump brought in daughter Ivanka at one point to talk about a child care tax credit she has championed, and the Washington Examiner quotes a congressional aide present who says the move "visibly annoyed" GOP leaders because talks "careened off topic."
• A pivot? In an online chat after the news broke, Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight wrote, "I suppose one could interpret it as the start of a—the start of a word that begins with P, ends with T and has IVO in the middle." He added later that it could be a pivot "toward Trump seeing how far he can get by working with Democrats."
• Nervous about 2018: Trump's move has Republicans worried about whether he's too politically fickle to help them on the campaign trail for the 2018 midterms, reports Politico.
• December fight: The temporary extension sets up a "Christmas showdown" on Capitol Hill over government funding, reports Bloomberg, and the leader of the House Freedom Caucus fears that Trump gave Democrats all the leverage heading into that fight.

(More President Trump stories.)