Congressional Black Caucus Leaders Meet with Trump, Push for Policy Proposals

President Trump met with leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday, pulling reporters into the room to hear him praise African Americans. “They’ve lifted up the conscience of our nation in the march toward civil rights, enriched the soul of America in their faith and courage, and they’ve advanced our country in the fields of science, arts and medicine,” the president said. As he spoke, the CBC’s six-member executive board was sitting on the other side of a table — out of the TV cameras’ shot. That was no accident. The CBC, many members of which boycotted Trump’s inauguration, agreed to meet with the president only if the meeting was substantive. The CBC’s leaders arrived at Wednesday’s meeting with a policy memo titled “A Lot to Lose.” Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.), the CBC’s chairman, was joined by Reps. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), André Carson (D-Ind.) and Anthony G. Brown (D-Md.).