Trump admitted defeat as top Senate Republicans, and the White House said he would sign the funding deal with no wall money to keep the government open.
The Washington Post reported:
Trump has signaled his support for the plan but “can change his mind if he wants to,†said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), the No. 2 Senate Republican. A senior White House aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s position, said the plan is for Trump to sign the legislation McConnell is introducing.
That would represent a major defeat for Trump on his signature issue, the U.S.-Mexico border wall he long insisted Mexico would pay for but has demanded $5 billion in taxpayer money to fund. And it’s an abandonment of his stance from a week ago, when he claimed he would be “proud†to shut down the government to get his wall money.
Trump got even less than he could have gotten if he would have taken the Senate Democrats offer of $1.6 billion for border security with no wall money. The president is going to sign a short-term spending bill that will run out as Democrats are taking over the House. By talking tough on a government shutdown, Trump got himself a worse deal than if he would have taken one of the two options that Democrats put on the table,
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None of the Democratic options included funding for the wall. Republicans had no stomach for shutting down the government for the wall. Republicans in Congress don’t want the wall.
The wall is not going to happen.
Trump tried to take on Pelosi and Schumer, and he got crushed.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
