On Friday, President Trump ended the government shutdown, at least temporarily, in order to give Congress time to work on a border security agreement, that includes a wall or barrier.
The vast majority are labeling this as President Trump “caving in” to Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats. As a matter of fact, RealClear Politics posted an article stating that the media outlets set aside their usual differences and uniformly agreed that he caved.
In addition, both Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were literally gloating about how she won against Trump right after he announced that he would end the shutdown.
However, in my opinion, the President did not cave… Unless you are looking at this with very limited vision.
President Trump’s objective in shutting down the government was to get funding for the wall. If he would have reopened the government and abandoned that goal, that would have been caving. That is not what happened.
During the negotiations for the wall funding during the shutdown, many Democrats- including Chuck Schumer- petitioned President Trump to open the government and continue the debate on the wall funding. They felt that the government should not be held hostage while negotiations take place.
President Trump made a strategic move in allowing the government to reopen. For starters, now there are no excuses for their unwillingness to negotiate. He has called their bluff. Everyone who had said they will negotiate once he opened the government will need to negotiate or be will be proved as a liar.
In addition, he has set the terms that the continuing resolution to fund the government is limited to three weeks. Which means, that after the three weeks pass he reserves the right to not sign another continuing resolution unless there is wall funding in place. This essentially means he has simply called a “time out” to the shutdown, not an end.
He has also stated that at the end of the three weeks, he may declare a national emergency to get the funding he needs for the wall.
This is smart negotiating.
He clearly knows that Nancy Pelosi is not going to give an inch. He is now appealing to other Democrats to get on board and negotiate. If they do, they can gain by accomplishing certain things on their agenda as well. For example, giving temporary protection to roughly 700,000 young undocumented immigrants.
President Trump has clearly shown he will definitely negotiate. After the three weeks, we will see if the Democrats are really negotiating or not. If he sees that they are making even some progress, I would bet that he would give an extension to the three week deadline.
If President Trump sees that they are not negotiating, which is what I think will happen, he will either close the government again (which I don’t think he will do) or declare a national emergency to ensure he receives the funding he needs for the wall.
If you look at the small picture & say that Pelosi “won” because Trump reopened the government, you are calling the showdown before it is over. But if you look at the big picture to see if he gets the funding for the wall, we will know soon enough who the winner is.
My bets are the President will get the funding for the wall, one way or another & deliver on another one of his promises.
Well wrien” it’s not about the battle it’s about the war”
He said he would keep the government shut down for years if need be but as soon as the polls showed he was losing support, he caved. Pelosi played him like a fiddle. If the wall is so important he should have done this two years ago when he had a majority in both chambers of Congress.
Strange definition of caving… He did say he would consider the option of keeping the government closed for a very long time. But that is rhetoric. His promise was to build the wall. & he will likely deliver.
That is not caving, unless you have tunnel vision.
He also promised to make Mexico pay for it and look where we are now.
I think he was setting himself up so that he could declare an emergency and win a court battle. The 129 additional powers granted by an emergency declaration could keep him in office until 120. I think it would be a good idea if Americans read up about an emergency declaration. Sure other presidents have invoked it but never abused it. This president has a total disregard for the law our BOR and the US Constitution. Admitted some of it is ignorance but I’m guessing if there is a president to abuse it, it’s him. He would be able to make all of his wishes come true, silencing and imprisoning dissenters, eliminating news sources he disagrees with. It seems the Republican party just doesn’t care.
He very well might declare an emergency. And it might very well be an emergency. There are major issues going on at our border.
Want to talk about a president abusing his power? You only have to go back to Obama.
I fully agree with Amil. He set it up that as soon as Nancy and Chuck start going back on what they promised ( although they didn’t say much) he will say “I kept my part of the deal and they didn’t ! BYE BYE”
I fully agree with Amil. He set it up that as soon as Nancy and Chuck start going back on what they promised ( although they didn’t say much) he will say “I kept my part of the deal and they didn’t
IMC,
Do not count your chickens before they hatch.
He will never build the wall. It will never get done. He does not have the money or the power to do it alone.
We have 3 branches of Government and he needs to work with the other 2.
Republicans should admit that they were duped into believing that Mexico was going to pay to build the wall and all the other worthless promises that come out of Trumps mouth.
I agree. It is not a slam dunk. But I believe he will follow through on this. Looks like he has the determination to get it done now.
As far as making Mexico pay for it, I never believed they would… As I’m sure many other Trump fans. What resonates with the base with what he says are the ideas, not the specifics. When I hear him say I will build a wall & make Mexico pay for it, I hear him say I will be strong on the border & crack down on illegal immigration. The part about making Mexico pay for it is for entertainment purposes only. His base understands that & doesn’t really care if they do or they don’t.
He can do it alone. He can declare an emergency, he can do it with
10 U.S.C. 284 or many other options. He will find a way.
As far as his promises, you are hard pressed to find another president that delivered as many campaign promises in his first 2 years in office as he has. This includes nominating conservative judges (including the Supreme Court), moving the embassy to Jerusalem, bringing manufacturing jobs back (without a wand!) & cutting regulations. And many more!
Bottom line, he is getting a lot done. Without ANY help from the Dems or Rhinos. Imagine if we had a functional Congress!
IMC,
He said that Mexico will pay for the wall because if he told the truth that we would pay for it , he would have been booed and rejected.
He promised it and he will never deliver it.
Nominating conservative judges is very easy. He does it alone.
Moving the embassy did not advance the peace process and Israel\Jews are still stuck with the Palestinian issue.
He did not bring back manufacturing jobs – it was another bluff.
He cut regulations which will cause our air,water and soil environment to be degraded. The Torah is very clear about being careful with the health of the environment.
He had control of congress for 2 years and couldn’t get anything done.
Now he is stuck for the next 2 years with Pelosi and a razor thin majority in the senate.
You really don’t understand him or his base. Like most Democrats.
He would not be booed or rejected for the U.S. paying for the wall. As polls indicate, his base & most Republicans are on board with paying for the wall. & truth is, U.S. will save money in the long run with good border security. Walls work & they are not immoral.
Makes no difference if nominating conservative judges are easy & can be done alone. He is fixing the judicial branch of government, which the liberals tried to hijack by putting in liberal judges.
Moving the embassy was a huge move. Both for Israel & the prospect of peace. Because it is off the table & the Arabs need to deal with the reality, there is a chance of real peace.
Manufacturing jobs is no bluff. & record low unemployment isn’t either. Which includes many minority groups like blacks, Hispanics, Asians & women.
We can use some good, old global warming now. Seriously, the cut in regulations is not causing dirty air, water & soil. That is a talking point of the left only. The main contributor to the environmental issues (China) gets a pass, from the left!
Next 2 years will be rough with the House dems not interested in getting anything constructive done, which is a shame. If they were smart, they can get a lot done (for THEIR agenda), if they would work with the President. Which is a shame. Could have been a win/win. No, it is not a razor thin majority in the Senate. It actually went up by 2 seats to 53 this past election. Not enough to pass legislation on many items without any Democrats, but far from what would be called a razor thin majority.
Looks like you are only echoing the talking points of the left. But they are only that. Talking points.
Where does the torah say anything about the environment?
Pelosi Schumer won, trump lost. the fact is we DONT need a wall as we don’t need to separate families and we must allow all to get asylum consideration. remember we were strangers in Egypt.
This is not a question of asylum consideration. Trump has no problem letting them in with proper vetting and legally. The wall is meant to keep out the dangerous ones from coming in illegally.
Pelosi and Schumer didn’t win anything yet, as the fight is not over. In all likelihood, they will lose, if losing means that the wall will be built.
90% of all asylum seekers are turned down, because they are not really seeking asylum. They are only seeking a better life. I don’t blame them, but we do not need to take in everyone looking for a better life.
Separating families is a talking point & would require another article. Yes, we were strangers in Egypt. That is not the point.
This isn’t a win for the democrats, it’s a win for the American public. No worrying about how the shutdown affects us (for the next few weeks), essential employees getting paid again, etc.
As a previous poster said, the ball is in Pelosi’s court. They said they’d negotiate. The fact is that even if they go back on their word, Trump will still be the bad guy. Even though he’s softening his stance on dreamers, the democrats will still hate him.
People need to wake up and realize that politics are no longer Dem vs. Republican. It’s government vs. “we the people”.
It’s a pleasure reading this thread in which both sides are responding respectfully to each other.