President Donald Trump’s suggestion on Fox News on Friday that he would not sign a “moderate” immigration bill is already making some lawmakers fret that he might change his mind at any moment, leaving them to suffer the backlash. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Trump treks to Capitol Hill as immigration firestorm rages The president will meet with House Republicans this evening, but there’s widespread skepticism that they can trust he’ll stick by what he says.

President Donald Trump heads to Capitol Hill Tuesday evening to rally House Republicans behind an immigration bill he panned just five days ago.

Now Republicans have to decide: Which Trump do they believe?


Speaker Paul Ryan and his top lieutenants are well aware that only the president can give conservatives cover to vote for a bill that includes a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers — a huge leap for those who once dismissed that idea as “amnesty.” It’s why leadership invited Trump for a rare meeting with the entire Republican conference, just days after he indicated he might veto the legislation.

While White House officials have assured leaders that Trump will give the bill a full-throated endorsement, Trump already appears to be upending that plan. Speaking to a group of business leaders before his Hill visit Tuesday, the president suggested he‘s not satisfied with the current proposal.

"We have a House that is getting ready to finalize an immigration package that they're going to brief me on later, and then I'm going to make changes to it," Trump said. "We have one chance to get it right. We might as well get it right or let‘s just keep it going. Let's do it right."

Sign up here for POLITICO Huddle A daily play-by-play of congressional news in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

White House legislative affairs director Marc Short appeared to downplay Trump’s role in getting the bill through the House. Passing the bill, Short said, will be “tough." And he argued that Trump was actually coming to the Hill because he wanted to catch up with House Republicans on other topics beyond immigration.

“I think that it’s been a long time [since Trump has spoken to House Republicans], so it will be a little bit broader than just immigration,” Short said. “He’ll probably talk about where he wants to go on trade, where he wants to go with the economy.”

That’s not the ringing endorsement of the immigration bill that GOP leaders were looking for.

Even if Trump vows to sign the bill during the closed-door meeting, his recent comments have unsettled House Republicans. The president’s suggestion on Fox News on Friday that he would not sign a “moderate” immigration bill is already making some lawmakers fret that he might change his mind at any moment, leaving them to suffer the backlash.

“It’s entirely suspect whether this gets 218 votes,” said one top conservative lawmaker who asked not to be named. “It’s strong on amnesty, weak in border security.”

Meanwhile, GOP leaders have put everything on hold as they await a signal from their party leader. They hoped to count votes on the bill Tuesday night and vote on the text Thursday. But multiple leadership sources said those plans were in flux, as they seemed uncertain of Trump's actual position.

Another wild card sure to come up at the meeting is Trump’s family separation policy at the border, which has consumed the immigration debate and drawn fire from members of both parties. An increasing number of Hill Republicans have argued that the practice is not in line with American values. Even House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a close Trump ally, has introduced narrow legislation aimed at keeping families together.

"I don't think anyone with an ounce of human feeling wants to be involved in something like this," said Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), who is retiring.

Still, it’s unclear whether House Republicans who rarely challenge Trump will press him to end the practice during the Tuesday meeting. House GOP leaders such as Ryan have blamed the courts instead, even as the White House has incorrectly said Congress is responsible for the separations.

What's more, House GOP leaders appear reluctant to back a standalone bill forcing the administration to stop the separation policy, though some Senate Republicans are discussing such a proposal. Trump has asked leaders to include any solution in a larger, comprehensive immigration package that would also give him his border wall — and so far they’re going along.

House Republicans have tucked into their immigration bill a provision that would keep families together but also enable children to be detained indefinitely. On Tuesday they also added language allowing money to be used to build and maintain family housing units that could shelter entire families while their cases are adjudicated, according to a top GOP source.

It’s unclear, however, that the bill has the votes will even pass the House, let alone the Senate. Moderate Republicans such as Rep. Will Hurd, whose Texas district includes a third of the U.S.-Mexico border, have expressed opposition.

Conservatives are similarly skittish, but for different reasons. Backing the House GOP leadership’s so-called compromise bill, negotiated between conservatives and moderates, would mean going up against several powerful anti-immigration outside groups. NumbersUSA and Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, are both blasting the bill as “amnesty” and telling conservatives to oppose it.

"Any immigration proposal that isn’t grounded in the well-being of the American people and undermines the rule of law is doomed to fail, and this bill is no different,” said RJ Hauman, the government relations director for the FAIR.

Immigration hardliners in the House say only Trump can give them cover to buck those groups. They worry a vote in favor will be used against them in future primaries.

But conservatives aren’t convinced that Trump will give them that protection, even after the White House clarified the administration’s support for the bill. They note that Trump hasn’t called Republicans personally to urge them to back the bill, like he did with Obamacare repeal and tax reform.

“Trump is out there all day selling ad nauseam. Selling, selling, selling,” said one House conservative source. “It looks like he’s holding his fire on this.”

Republicans haven’t forgotten when Trump changed his tune other times to their detriment. White House officials told GOP lawmakers this spring that Trump wanted them to vote for a $1 trillion-plus spending bill. Then, after he had signed the bill and the base balked, he turned on Hill Republicans, criticizing them for foisting the bill on him and inviting blowback from their constituents.

Republicans say they won't let that happen again.

