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Obama had a ‘pen and phone’ strategy; Trump has an eraser

In this Sept. 5, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Congressional leaders and administration officials on tax reform, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Since his first days in office, Trump has set out on a wholesale reversal of a long list of actions that President Barack Obama achieved through executive action _ a less enduring means than the hard-and-fast language of legislation. The latest Obama-era policy to fall is the program shielding from deportation hundreds of thousands of young people brought into the country illegally as children.(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In this Sept. 5, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Congressional leaders and administration officials on tax reform, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Since his first days in office, Trump has set out on a wholesale reversal of a long list of actions that President Barack Obama achieved through executive action _ a less enduring means than the hard-and-fast language of legislation. The latest Obama-era policy to fall is the program shielding from deportation hundreds of thousands of young people brought into the country illegally as children.(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) In this Sept. 5, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Congressional leaders and administration officials on tax reform, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Since his first days in office, Trump has set out on a wholesale reversal of a long list of actions that President Barack Obama achieved through executive action _ a less enduring means than the hard-and-fast language of legislation. The latest Obama-era policy to fall is the program shielding from deportation hundreds of thousands of young people brought into the country illegally as children.(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

By Associated Press 5 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama had a “pen and phone” strategy. President Donald Trump has an eraser.

Since his first days in office, Trump has set out on a wholesale reversal of a long list of accomplishments that Obama achieved through executive action – a less enduring means than the hard-and-fast language of legislation.

The latest Obama-era policy to fall is the program shielding from deportation hundreds of thousands of young people brought into the country illegally as children. The Trump administration on Tuesday said the government would stop issuing new work permits while lawmakers debate whether to pass another solution.

In explaining his decision, Trump accused Obama of making “an end-run around Congress” to protect the so-called “dreamers.” In effect, this time it’s Trump making an end-run around Obama.

Obama, coming out of semi-retirement, retorted that Trump’s action was a “cruel” and “self-defeating” decision tinged with politics.