Yes, Seizing Hostages is a Well-Known Negotiating Tool

But there’s no real negotiation going on. Democrats, particularly those from border states, will not support a border wall, and even if they caved, the GOP won’t release the children. The appropriate response is to identify and seize Republican hostages, whether literal or figurative. There are plenty of targets:

President Trump has calculated that he will gain political leverage in congressional negotiations by continuing to enforce a policy he claims to hate — separating immigrant parents from their young children at the southern border, according to White House officials.

On Friday, Trump suggested he would not change the policy unless Democrats agreed to his other immigration demands, which include funding a border wall, tightening the rules for border enforcement and curbing legal entry. He also is intent on pushing members of his party to vote for a compromise measure that would achieve those long-standing priorities.

Trump’s public acknowledgment that he was willing to let the policy continue as he pursued his political goals came as the president once again blamed Democrats for a policy enacted and touted by his own administration.