Trump Sided With The Democrats. Whaaaaat?

In this week’s politics chat, we dissect reports of a deal between President Trump and congressional Democrats. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

micah (Micah Cohen, politics editor): Welcome, everyone! We were actually going to skip this week’s politics chat, but then this happened (from The New York Times):

President Trump struck a deal with Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday to increase the debt limit and finance the government until mid-December, blindsiding his own Republican allies as he reached across the aisle to resolve a major dispute for the first time since taking office.

So, on the surface, this seems really odd: Trump going along with a proposal from the Democratic leaders, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, that ran against the wishes of the Republican leaders, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan.

Is it that odd? Is it significant? What do you all make of this?

(Clare is on a reporting trip, but filling in for her is our new Washington editor! Introducing Hilary!!!