Members of the incoming Democratic majority in Congress have pitched a novel strategy to work with President Donald Trump to advance their agenda: Let him put his name on it.
Since the blue wave swept Democrats into power Nov. 3, leaders in the party have stressed that the election results are an audition from the American people, who expect them to deliver on the affordability agenda on which they ran. At the same time, some Democratic voters expect to see the party increase its oversight of the administration – a move that could fuel the president’s unwillingness to work with Democrats.
The challenge is how to best navigate those competing goals. One idea, floated by incoming Democratic senators such as Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan and James Talarico
of Texas, is to appeal to the president’s desire to leave a lasting legacy.
El-Sayed, who was on the receiving end of Islamophobic attacks from Trump during his Michigan Senate race, said he didn’t mind letting the president put his name on Medicare for All, one of the key policies he campaigned on this year.
“Donald, this is on the table,” El-Sayed posted on social media Nov. 12, along with an image of a “Trumpcare” card. “Guarantee healthcare for every American, from cradle to grave.”
The question of how to pass legislation was top of mind at the “What’s Next” conference in Denver hosted by the Majority Democrats, a centrist group that seeks to reshape the party.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat who hasn't backed Medicare for All legislation, told reporters Nov. 13 at the event that she agreed with the sentiment behind El-Sayed’s suggested approach, saying he is “rightfully reading that this president is a narcissist who's obsessed with himself.”
“If slapping Trump's name on it and putting it in gold letters would get it through, hell yes I would do that,” Slotkin told reporters. “I think that it's sad that we're all coddling a president we know just got shellacked in the last election, but we have two more years with him, and I can't wait two more years to deliver something for the people of Michigan.”
The next two years
The president has given mixed signals on his willingness to work with Democrats.
“I’ll get along, probably, with the Democrats, unless they want to be destructive, but I have the power of the veto,” Trump told reporters Nov. 4. “But they already called and they want to talk about things, so that’s fine.”
But the president has since named Stephen Miller, a Trump loyalist who led the administration’s immigration crackdown, as his chief of staff, suggesting a more hardline approach. Trump has also questioned the results of the 2026 midterm elections and, in a Nov. 12 social media post, called Democrats “CORRUPT AND EVIL."
The question is whether appealing to a president who has spent much of his second term trying to leave a physical mark on Washington – including the construction of a new ballroom and a fight to add his name to the Kennedy Center – will work.
“If President Trump wants the same plaques, and portraits, and busts as LBJ, we can help make that a reality,” Sen.-elect James Talarico of Texas said Nov. 12 in Denver. “We should make the final two years of his presidency the most productive of any presidency in American history.”
The pitch hasn’t been universally embraced.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the Maryland Democrat who announced Nov. 12 that he plans to challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to lead the chamber next year, said his party shouldn’t wait on the president when asked about Talarico’s comments.
“I don’t think we should make our decisions in the United States Senate based on what Donald Trump may or may not do,” Van Hollen told reporters at the Denver conference on Nov. 13. “If he signs it, great. If he vetoes a bill for working people, and shows once again that he stands on the side of his billionaire buddies, then the American people will see that.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Slapping Trump's name on it.' Democrats pitch Trump on working together
