Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, Paul Ryan

Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders are meeting at Camp David over the weekend to decide what legislative damage to inflict on the nation in 2018 and how to keep their congressional majorities despite that damage.

Among the issues that have been mentioned prominently in recent weeks by the President and White House officials – welfare reform, funding for new roads and bridges, border security and more – but unlike last year when the top items were clearly health care and taxes, 2018 doesn’t have a headline GOP issue as of yet. “A lot of the meetings that the President has this week with leadership will help determine what the best strategy is on each of those individual areas,” Sanders added.

In translation, taking food and health care and heating assistance away from families in need, claiming the U.S. can’t afford luxuries like that just months after a giant tax giveaway to corporations and the wealthy; turning public roads and bridges into sources of private profit for big business and calling it an infrastructure plan; and demonizing immigrants some more.

Will Republicans be able to get anything meaningful done on any of this before the 2018 election season is in full swing? It’s doubtful, but they can sure whip up ugliness in their base around possibilities one and three to try to overcome Trump’s deep unpopularity in time for November.

The real surprise about this meeting, of course, is that it’s not happening at a Trump-owned property.

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