Demonized Schumer and Pelosi now deal-makers with Trump

FILE - In this Sept. 6, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump pauses during a meeting with, from left, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other Congressional leaders in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, in Washington. The president genially calls them “Chuck and Nancy.” Schumer and Pelosi, have used two White House meetings to become Trump’s dealmaking partners on budget and immigration. They have a combined 67-year record of being willing negotiators in Congress. But they’re also partisan Democrats perfectly happy to rumble. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) FILE - In this Sept. 6, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump pauses during a meeting with, from left, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other Congressional leaders in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, in Washington. The president genially calls them “Chuck and Nancy.” Schumer and Pelosi, have used two White House meetings to become Trump’s dealmaking partners on budget and immigration. They have a combined 67-year record of being willing negotiators in Congress. But they’re also partisan Democrats perfectly happy to rumble. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

By Associated Press September 16, 2017 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – It’s been a long eight months in the wilderness for Democrats, but if any two were going to find their way back to the action it was Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his House counterpart, Nancy Pelosi.

Or “Chuck and Nancy,” as President Donald Trump now calls them.

When Trump cracked the door of bipartisanship, the two Hill veterans barged through full-force. Pelosi says they were looking for ways to “build some trust and confidence” with Trump.

Two meetings with the president yielded a budget deal and progress on immigration.

As for Schumer, an open Senate microphone Thursday caught him saying: “He likes us. He likes me, anyway.” Schumer said he warned Trump he’d be “boxed” if he only works with one party, adding, “He gets that.”