‘I Can’t Believe This Is Real’: Dan Abrams Shocked at Trump’s ‘Bonkers’ Quid Pro Quo

Mediaite founder Dan Abrams was shocked that reports of President Donald Trump’s proposed deal to lift a funding freeze if his name is put on Penn Station were real, telling panelists on CNN NewsNight he originally “thought this was a joke.”

Abrams joined host Abby Phillip on Thursday alongside CNN’s Scott Jennings, Ashley Allison, Bill Stepian, and Deja Fox to discuss the quid pro quo, first reported by Punchbowl News.

Trump demanded that Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) agree to put Trump’s name on Penn Station in New York and Washington’s Dulles International Airport in exchange for an end to the president’s freeze on $16 billion that had been slated for a new rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey.

“I can’t believe you’re actually defending this one,” Abrams said to Jennings, before turning to Deja Fox. “I mean, I can’t believe this is real. I mean, I agree with you. I thought this was a joke.”

Jennings pushed back on Abrams, asking what was wrong with the trade.

“What’s wrong with him demanding certain things in exchange for naming it after him? You don’t think that that’s kind of bonkers?” Abrams shot back.

The Trump administration froze the funding during last fall’s government shutdown. New York and New Jersey sued the administration this week in federal court in Manhattan. Construction remains ongoing, but may be halted as early as Friday due to lack of funds.

Trump told Schumer he was prepared to unfreeze the money if he agreed to back a plan to rename Penn Station and Dulles International after himself, two people familiar with the conversation told Punchbowl News. Schumer rejected the idea, telling Trump he did not have the authority to make the change.

“There’s nothing to trade,” a source close to Schumer told Punchbowl. “The president stopped the funding and can restart the funding with a snap of his fingers.”

Watch above via NewsNight.

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