Good Monday morning. I'm Anna Palmer and welcome to your Politico Playbook Audio Briefing,

sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing. And I'm Jake Sherman. Want to understand

Washington right now? You need to understand Chuck Schumer, Donald Trump, and the relationship

between the two. Here's what they have in common. The president and the Senate minority leader

do not agree on much. We know that, but they are both facing the

same dilemma. They're both deal cutters instinctively, but they're both stuck between pragmatism

and their base when it comes to immigration reform. We saw that in Schumer's shifting strategy in the

shutdown and in Trump's on again, off again approach to Dreamers. Of course, with a 51 to 49 majority,

Schumer's critical to any deal.

The big question remains. Can the two find a way forward on any legislation before the midterms?

What about infrastructure or a farm bill? How about the debt limit?

The natural tendency on both sides will be to go back to their partisan corners and wait for the election. And for your

radar, government funding runs out a week from Thursday. So far, Democrats are not on the same page

about whether they will decouple a spending caps deal and a deal on Dreamers. Look for at least one,

and more likely, two, short-term spending, as lawmakers try to work out their differences.

The Washington Post scored an interview with Schumer where the New York Democrat says that Trump

should stay away on an immigration deal so that he doesn't mess it up. Schumer also wants

Democrats to focus on an economic populist message in part for the sake of the 10 Democrats

up in Trump states.

Sung Min Kim and Rachel Bade report that we should expect dreamers and Trump's desire to show compassion toward them on display at the state of the union tomorrow.

Our colleagues, Maggie Severn's and Marianne, write that both parties are facing dissent

over the handling of sexual harassment allegations.

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