New York Gov. Kathy Hochul set to discuss pipeline with President Trump at White House
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will meet with President Trump at the White House on Friday morning to discuss a controversial natural gas pipeline.
It's called the "constitution pipeline," which would carry gas through Upstate New York. Local regulators have denied water quality permits for the project.
Meeting comes after clashes over congestion pricing
Hochul has taken a sometimes two-sided approach to Trump. In February, she blasted him after his administration moved to end congestion pricing in New York City. But now, the governor appears to be schmoozing.
"I reached out to the president yesterday and said I want to carry on the conversation that we had in the Oval Office a couple weeks ago," Hochul said Thursday.
For his part, Trump has made his agenda clear: he wants to get rid of congestion pricing. But it's possible he may want to make a deal on one of his causes.
"It should be very easy. It's a pipeline going through a small section of New York. New York's held it up for years, actually. For years they wanted to do it," Trump said. "It will reduce– the most expensive energy almost in the world is in New England because they have no way of getting it there because it's been held up by New York."
In his comments Thursday, Trump called Hochul "a very nice woman," but it's not clear what that could foretell for their get-together.
"You have two personalities in conflict"
Political analyst Hank Sheinkopf says there is a "potential for disaster" at Friday's meeting.
"You have two personalities in conflict – one is a Democrat who's gotta be a Democrat, the other is Trump who's gonna be a Trump," he said.
Sheinkopf says Hochul has taken a pragmatic approach by meeting with Trump.
"Governor Hochul has no choice. You cannot tell the President of the United States to take a hike. It's one of the great mistakes people make," he said. "The governor's got to treat the president with respect because you never know when you're gonna need him."
Even before his meeting with Hochul, Trump has seemingly already started his negotiation. He says if the state won't allow the pipeline, he will use federal power to get it built.
