Trump, Democrats agree to pursue $2 trillion infrastructure plan

WASHINGTON — Democratic congressional leaders emerged from a meeting at the White House on Tuesday and announced that President Trump had agreed to pursue a $2 trillion infrastructure plan to upgrade the nation’s highways, railroads, bridges and broadband.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the minority leader, said that there had been “goodwill” in the meeting and that it was “different from some of the other meetings that we’ve had.” Speaking alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, he said the group planned to meet again in three weeks, when Trump was expected to tell them how he planned to actually pay for the ambitious project.

The first substantive sit-down between Trump and Democratic leadership since the 35-day government shutdown last winter unfolded at a tense moment.

Since their last face-to-face meeting at the White House, the special counsel released his 448-page report detailing Trump’s months-long effort to thwart an investigation that loomed over his presidency. Pelosi, since then, has tried to caution her colleagues against impeaching the president, while facing growing pressure from her caucus and from 2020 Democratic presidential contenders to do so.

Trump is also going to great lengths to stonewall expanding investigations by House Democrats, resisting efforts to obtain his tax returns, preventing former aides from testifying and even pursuing legal action against Deutsche Bank, a longtime lender to the Trump Organization, and another bank to stop them from responding to congressional subpoenas.

But speaking to reporters on the driveway outside of the West Wing, Schumer told reporters there was no issue with pursuing both oversight and legislation along parallel tracks.

“In previous meetings, the president has said if these investigations continue, I can’t work with...