McConnell and Ryan advised him against the shutdown but he did it anyway. He has not made any offer that Democrats could accept. He doesn’t have a plan if bullying doesn’t work. If he insists on the wall, I don’t see how this ends. It’s unfortunate that Trump is using 800,000 federal employees as hostages. I feel for them, not Trump.
Notable about the shutdown battle is how transparently Trump is flailing. You can usually see some crude political logic in his moves even if he’s lying, inflaming, race-baiting. Once he played his crime card and it didn’t work, this one has been pure flail.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 25, 2019
"Trump has boxed himself into a position he can't get out of because at a very basic level, he has no idea what he's doing. He started a bad fight over an unpopular wall and can't admit he's wrong." https://t.co/0mF8AeT77L
#NoWall #TrumpShutdown— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) January 16, 2019
It's incredible to me that so many smart people don't understand that if Trump reopened govt tomorrow without any strings attached, he would *not actually have surrendered anything or made any concessions.*
Agreeing to stop hurting the country to get your way isn't a concession.
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 23, 2019
White House aides say the disorganization and lack of discipline feels like early 2017. Hill aides say no one — including Pence — can speak for Trump. And 30 days in, no one says a deal is close to end the shutdown. https://t.co/xLRThfyR5G
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) January 21, 2019
Twice in the past 5 prez elections, Rs have won the Electoral College while losing the popular vote. Their Senate edge is centered on small states. But is it a sustainable long-term strategy to aim an agenda at 45% or less of the country? Trump is testing. https://t.co/LNlQSN08WD
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) January 17, 2019
If Trump now reopens Govt, he visibly surrenders to Pelosi.
If Trump keeps Govt closed, he bleeds support faster. Workers miss next paycheck, air travel delays, govt services fail, and economy stalls.
Trump built the trap and walked into it. Pelosi just locked it behind him.
— David Frum (@davidfrum) January 16, 2019
"Trump wants rational people to be so horrified at the damage he’s willing to inflict that they’ll cave in…Giving in to such behavior is not moderate, reasonable or sensible."
Good @EJDionne piece calling for mere accuracy in describing Trump tactics: https://t.co/k4jinHEPr0
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 23, 2019
The Art of the Why Can’t We Get a Deal https://t.co/4BAgVydWJm
— Philip Bump (@pbump) January 17, 2019
On Radio Atlantic this week, @maggieNYT explains how President Trump's dealmaking as a businessman parallels his time presiding over the shutdown https://t.co/XjzPzPL7S4 pic.twitter.com/JvZ5YHn30T
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) January 24, 2019
The fight over the wall and shutdown has done more to unify Dems that it has to 'rally' the Trump base. https://t.co/rpqM4r7cKp
— amy walter (@amyewalter) January 17, 2019
McConnell answers to Trump and Trump answers to Coulter https://t.co/ub4vp3Gnls
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) January 16, 2019
The Wall is a device, a sales pitch, a bottle of snake oil, a Fyre Fest. Trump never intended to actually build it, because he did not expect to actually become president. The many subsequent scams were concocted to keep the original scam going. https://t.co/q8HMfwlhaf
— Jack Holmes (@jackholmes0) January 23, 2019
Sad! 