Donald Trump's misguided obsession with his "big, beautiful, powerful" border wall might ultimately torpedo weeks of bi-partisan negotiations in Congress to keep the government funded by the end of Friday. Nothing says “presidential” like shutting down the government over a useless pet project you promised would be paid for but are now trying to saddle the America people with. Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times writes:
Congressional appropriators, who are always happy to spend money together, seemed on a glide path to quietly do so, until Mr. Trump belatedly intervened, insisting on using the bill to get a down payment on a wall at the Mexican border that even many Republicans are leery of and that he has long insisted would be paid for by Mexico.
Suddenly, a spending bill that was meant to be a mere legislative grace note to much larger health care and tax policy bills has become the centerpiece of another down-to-the-wire battle.
“The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)!” Mr. Trump said Monday on Twitter.
"If the wall is not built, which it will be," he continued, "the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be!"
Trump's lack of legislative prowess has practically become legendary in an astonishingly short amount of time, but this one really takes the cake. While Paul Ryan probably would have tanked health care repeal all on his own, all Trump had to do with the spending bill was keep his mitts off it. Nope.
Counterproductive as his moves may appear, Mr. Trump is clearly eager for a victory, and funding for his wall would be one, at least with his base. His negotiating method appears to be to join the conversation late in the game and pressure Congress via his beloved Twitter account, with references to campaign promises that were always long shots.
Yeah, team Trump had so much success with joining the health care conversation late in the game, they are keen to try it all over again.
For weeks, Congressional negotiators have been trying to ignore Trump in order to strike a deal to keep the government funded. Before Trump injected himself, Sen. Chuck Schumer even said the talks were "going quite well." Now they are trying to find a compromise that will include "vague promises" about getting to the wall later in the year. You would think that vague, malleable promises would be right up Trump's alley, no?
However, should Mr. Trump decide to dig in, there could be a huge and largely needless fight over spending that distracts from the rest of his agenda.
Trump's wall-erloo. If he doesn't get that precious wall, Trumpcare, tax reform, infrastructure... it could all come tumbling down. Or so we hope.
And it just might, because these guys are nuts, reports Ryan Lizza.
“This is going to be high-stakes poker,” the White House official said. When I asked if a shutdown was likely, the official paused for several seconds. “I don’t know,” the official said. The official added, “I just want my wall and my ice agents.”