💔 Why Trump and Jeffries will never work together — Kushner’s diplomacy be damned

In today’s edition of “The Inner Circle with Rachael Bade,” a reality check on the notion of President Trump working with a House Democratic majority. Spoiler alert: It ain’t gonna happen… Today’s mentions: Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, Hakeem Jeffries, Susie Wiles, Nancy Pelosi, Zohran Mamdani, Mike Johnson.

🤝 A MEETING NOT ON THE BINGO CARD — The scoop had much of Washington atwitter over the weekend: President DONALD TRUMP’s son-in-law JARED KUSHNER met privately with HAKEEM JEFFRIES, the man in line to be the next speaker of the House, to see whether the administration could work with a future Democratic majority.

The pair discussed housing affordability, immigration and high costs — with Kushner suggesting Jeffries should sit down with Trump’s chief of staff, SUSIE WILES, according to the NYT’s report.

It’s not a completely random pairing. Kushner and Jeffries actually have a history: The two worked together on the criminal justice reform bill during Trump’s first term. But that’s Kushner’s relationship, not the president’s. DONALD TRUMP doesn’t know Jeffries, and Jeffries doesn’t know him — which matters a lot for what comes next.

Here’s a reality check from someone who covered divided government during Trump One: this entire notion of Kumbaya between Trump and a Democratic-controlled House is a pipe dream.

👊 HERE’S WHY: Democrats are almost certainly going to impeach Trump and investigate the heck out of his administration and its allies. It’s less a question of if than when.

It’s also a fact that impeachment is one of Trump’s greatest political sensitivities. The administration has gone to great lengths to get the Smithsonian to de-emphasize impeachments in its museums, and the president has personally pressured Republicans in Congress to “expunge” his impeachment record.

The notion of Trump working productively with a Democratic majority that’s sending subpoenas flying down Pennsylvania Avenue discounts the character of the man himself. Trump adheres to one belief above all: If you get punched, you punch back 50 times harder.

🕰️ WE’VE SEEN THIS MOVIE BEFORE — When Trump first came to power in 2017, I reported that he actually had a secret admiration for then-Minority Leader NANCY PELOSI, whom he knew personally and had donated to back in the day. He envied her grip on her caucus and fancied himself striking bipartisan deals with her. He even held off giving her one of his famous nicknames for a time.

But just as talks of bipartisan infrastructure and gun bills started kicking up in 2019, impeachment demands were ramping up. Then came news of that “perfect phone call.” Pelosi — who had tried to hold the line against impeachment all year — knew that even she, who ruled her caucus with an iron fist, had to bow to the left.

And so went Trump’s Pelosi curiosity. He went from admiring her to dubbing her “Crazy Nancy” — and all bipartisan talks ground to an absolute halt.

🧊 NO RELATIONSHIP TO FALL BACK ON — With Jeffries, there’s no admiration or relationship to begin with — from either side. Trump is already trying to negatively define and belittle Jeffries, posting that sombrero deepfake and calling him “low IQ” and a “thug,” as I pointed out earlier this year.

Jeffries, in response, has mocked what he calls the president’s obsession with him; his team even jokingly pouts that Trump hasn’t given him a good nickname.

☝️TO BE SURE, we should acknowledge the existence of the opposite argument here: I’ve heard Trump allies argue in earnest that the president actually can work with Jeffries and a Democratic majority. Trump supports several populist ideas Democrats embrace, they argue.

They also point to Trump’s surprisingly good relationship with New York City Mayor ZOHRAN MAMDANI — after trading barbs, the two are now texting buddies.

But there’s a big difference between Mamdani’s and Jeffries’ situation. People who’ve covered Trump for a long time will tell you he operates by a pretty basic principle: If you’re nice to him, he’ll be nice to you back. Mamdani knew that and played his cards accordingly, but Mamdani won’t be overseeing an impeachment inquiry…

If Jeffries is “nice” to the president — meaning he holds off on impeachment and investigations — his base will go ballistic. And just as progressives forced Pelosi’s hand, as I chronicled in my book “Unchecked — Inside Congress’ Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump,” the left will demand accountability from Jeffries too.

⚠️ THE ESTABLISHMENT DEMS’ COUNTERARGUMENT — I’m sympathetic to the argument some establishment Democrats have made to me: that a new Democratic majority is going to have to show it can govern. In that vein, these Democrats argue the majority will want to strike bipartisan spending deals and maybe move other legislation to prove it can work across the aisle, drawing a contrast with Republicans.

It sounds to me like these folks may live in La La Land. The base is going to demand Jeffries take a hardline stance against the administration on investigations and policy. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a record-setting government shutdown — even longer than the one we saw last year. And really — who in the Democratic caucus wants to hand a GOP administration credit for legislative wins ahead of a critical presidential race in 2028?

A few other palace-intrigue thoughts about the story…

🕵️ WHO LEAKED IT? — Today on The Huddle, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine and I debated where this story came from.

Dan floated one theory: Maybe Team Jeffries was behind it — a show of dominance aimed at donors to get them to pony up cash. Sean and I were skeptical, pointing out that the Dem base won’t exactly like this story -- particularly because Kushner could easily be considered a target of these investigations next year. (More on that in a sec…)

The bylines are also telling. Maggie Haberman is the best Trump reporter out there — but isn’t exactly known for being sourced in Jeffries’ orbit (though, I’ll note that congressional reporter extraordinaire Annie Karni is also on the byline). That could point the finger back at Trump World — or Kushner Land if they’re trying to put Jared himself at the center of the action.

🤔 WAS JARED FREELANCING? — Dan and Sean also got into it over whether the administration itself blessed this meeting.

It’s hard for people on the outside to believe the president’s son-in-law would sit down with the future speaker without someone in the White House already knowing — and signing off.

Dan made that case bluntly: “Does Jared go out and have meetings like this on his own? The answer for you is 100% no.” He pointed out the White House has been silent for 24 hours and nobody is calling the story fake news — which, in his view, shows the White House knows it’s likely to lose the chamber this year and is already pre-planning for it. That’s going to infuriate Speaker MIKE JOHNSON.

But Sean — who worked with Kushner in Trump One — pushed back, arguing this is just typical Jared.

“Jared doesn’t ask for permission from anybody,” Sean said, arguing that he always just meets with whomever he wants.

💰 KUSHNER’S OWN SKIN IN THE GAME — It’s also worth noting Kushner may have his own motivation for staying on Jeffries’s good side. Democrats have been eyeing the roughly $2 billion Saudi-backed investment in Kushner’s private equity firm — reportedly greenlit despite the Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s own board recommending against it — along with his subsequent foreign policy work.

If a Democratic majority comes knocking with subpoenas next year, Kushner himself could easily be a target, I’m told — which gives him every incentive to keep the relationship with a future Speaker Jeffries warm.

Intriguing stuff…

🎥 TODAY’S WATCH — Catch our fuller conversation on the Kushner-Jeffries meeting. Plus, Democrats’ midterm momentum builds as the Senate map expands, concerning economic warnings for Republicans, and the man most likely to be the next press secretary — on today’s The Huddle. Subscribe to my new YouTube channel. Or listen to the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.