Trump, Cuomo Meet At White House, Talk Abortion, Taxes And Infrastructure

WASHINGTON – At the request of New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), President Donald Trump met with Cuomo Tuesday during a closed-door meeting in the Oval Office.

In a statement to the media, White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said the two discussed a series of topics including abortion, taxes and infrastructure.

Last month, New York State passed a law to protect women’s access to abortion if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned.

“The President raised his concerns to Governor Cuomo about Democrats’ support of late term abortions,” said Deere.

The Reproductive Health Act allows for abortions after 24 weeks if an authorized health care practitioner determines that “the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health” or if “there is an absence of fetal viability.”

Another topic of discussion, disagreement and possible compromise for Trump and Cuomo: taxes.

Deere said President Trump talked about the “positive impacts” of the administration’s tax overhaul bill and “listened to the Governor’s concerns” in regard to state and local taxes, with Trump reiterating “the negative impact that high taxes in states like New York have on hardworking families and job creators.”

One of the more controversial parts of the 2017 Republican tax measure was a new cap on how much Americans would be allowed to deduct for state and local taxes from their federal bills.

The deduction, which helps to lower a tax bill, is capped at $10,000 under the new law. It once was unlimited.

High-tax states like New York have complained that the new cap disproportionately hurts their residents. For example, New York estimates the cap will increase federal taxes by $14.3 billion in 2018 for New Yorkers.

The duo, according to Deere, also discussed energy and fracking, as well as one area where they might eventually be able to find common ground: “the need to update America’s outdated infrastructure system.”

Trump said during his State of the Union speech last week that infrastructure is one area where his administration can work with a divided Congress.

New York State might be one such beneficiary for its proposed Gateway Tunnel project, which is a collection of upgrades along a 10-mile span, including the Hudson Tunnel, following damages from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Trump and Cuomo met at the White House to talk about the project over lunch last November.