Conservative MSNBC commentator Charlie Sykes said Thursday that Democrats and Republicans can present any deal they like to President Donald Trump — but that anti-immigrant TV personalities like Ann Coulter will goad the president into walking away from an agreement.

“How many times do you have to have Lucy take the football away before you realize you’re not going to be able to make a deal with somebody like Donald Trump who is an unreliable negotiator?” asked Sykes. “Frankly I don’t think Donald Trump wants a deal. I don’t Donald Trump wants a wall, I think he wants the fight.” He added that the president was likely hoping his party would “look the other way when he declares a national emergency.”

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Host Stephanie Ruhle suggested that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell likely believed the same, saying he was refusing to bring any funding bills to the floor because Republicans don’t want to set the president up to look like an “obstructionist”.

Sykes replied that Trump’s assurances that he’d sign a bill were empty, and that the president’s favorite TV stars held final veto power.

“Steven Miller will pick up the phone and call Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh and the base will get riled up,” he said. “The president is completely prepared to renege.”

“So Ann Coulter calling the president a fraud and weeny is what’s stopping this,” asked Ruhle.

“That’s what stopped it last time,” Sykes said, twirling his finger. “Definition of insanity, right?”