Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:49 pm
Even today Donald Trump is still fighting for his border wall. But an icicle has a better chance of surviving a summer in the Sahara Desert than Trump has of getting his wall.
To dispel any doubts about this, let us review some of our key reporting from the past two weeks:
On December 20 we reported: “Schumer And Pelosi Tell Trump He Can Tantrum All He Wants But He’s Not Getting His Wall.â€
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
On December 21 we reported: “Trump Doesn’t Have The Votes For Senate Nuclear Option Wall Money†and also:
“Chuck Schumer Tells Trump You’re Never Getting Your Wall.â€
On December 22 we reported: “Ted Lieu Tells Trump He Can Take His ‘Stupid Vanity Wall’ And Shove itâ€
On December 23 we reported: “Sen. Jeff Merkley Says Democrats Will Give Trump Nothing For The Wallâ€
On December 27 we reported: “Trump Throws A Tantrum As Just 25% Of Americans Support His Childish Border Wall Shutdownâ€
On December 28 we reported: “Nancy Pelosi Plans Power Play to Stick It to Trumpâ€
So, given the above, it is no surprise that, despite his bluster, Donald Trump has already told his key aides that it is time to start looking for a way to give in to the Democrats while also attempting to salvage at least a piece of his pride.
Trump has maintained all along that he would accept nothing less than $5 billion for his border wall. But as the disastrous Trump Shutdown drags on, he has less negotiating leverage every day.
And now, sure enough, according to CBS News, he has announced that he’s given the Democrats a new number which is much lower than $5 billion.
CBS reported:
Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said he expected the shutdown to go on for a while, but revealed the president has come down from his initial demand of $5 billion to build the wall.
“We sat down with (Chuck) Schumer and gave him a number below five. I am not going to tell you what it is,” Mulvaney said.
Maybe Mulvaney and Trump should see the list at the top of this article. It makes clear that not only Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi but all Democrats are fully committed to one thing:
GIVING TRUMP NOTHING for his border wall.
What Mulvaney’s comments prove is that Trump has no more leverage. He has already lost the fight, and all he can do now is try to salvage SOMETHING to show his supporters that he has kept his promise.
But Schumer and Pelosi know that the president is on the ropes, and ready to take a dive. They have no reason to give Trump anything at this point. Because Trump has already caved on the number he is demanding, they know they can hold out for the number they want for border wall funding: zero.
Donald Trump has lost his shutdown battle and all he can hope for now is to save a little bit of his dignity. But even that may be too much to hope for once Democrats take over and Nancy Pelosi becomes Speaker of the House. Trump’s fight for his border wall, just like his presidency, is effectively over.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
