This is a deal?

I understand President Trump is seriously considering declaring a national emergency if Democrats don’t give him the wall he wants. I can understand a lot of reasons for declaring a national emergency, but having a president declare one because he isn’t getting his way isn’t adequate.

For two years, Republicans controlled both houses of Congress, but didn’t fund the border wall. The Senate couldn’t even get all Republican senators to support it when they voted on this option. When the Republicans didn’t support the border wall, it wasn’t a national emergency. Now that we have a Democratic majority in the House, we have a national emergency on our hands.

The president appears to have completely given up on having Mexico pay for the wall. The president now expects the American people to pay for it and is holding 800,000 federal employees as hostage in his negotiations. He assures us that somehow, someway, the new trade agreement will pay for the wall. Unfortunately, that’s not how trade agreements work.

I guess we are getting a lesson in the Art of the Deal, presidential style. And we are on the losing end.

Sue Scobby

Newport, Wash.