“I’m not going to do it so fast.”
I have no idea what the strategy is at this point. Literally no one in Congress is claiming that there’s a feasible compromise in the works. Unless he’s waiting until tomorrow to issue the order so that he can claim he set the shutdown record, there’s no endgame left except squeezing people who depend on federal money for as long as possible in hopes that they’ll stick it to Chuck and Nancy instead of to Republicans.
“What we’re not looking to do right now is national emergency,” [Trump] said Friday afternoon, surrounded by law enforcement officials at a White House roundtable. “I’m not going to do it so fast.”…
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N. C.), who talks frequently with Trump, said that he expected the president to take that step in a matter of “days, not weeks” but that it was unclear whether doing so would lead to a full reopening of government…
Pelosi said Friday that Democrats have not felt any political pressure to give in to Trump’s wall demands.
“No, except to stay firm,” she said.
Meadows and Lindsey Graham have been egging him on via Twitter to declare a national emergency too. To this point, I assumed they were doing that in coordination with the White House: The president wants his allies to help him build popular support for an emergency decree so that’s what they’re doing. But now I wonder if maybe Trump has convinced himself that he can get Democrats to bend if this goes on a few weeks longer, with Graham and Meadows desperately trying to convince him otherwise before this turns into a political disaster.
Democrats continue to refuse to negotiate in good faith or appropriate any money for border barriers. If they won’t compromise, POTUS should use asset forfeiture money or other discretionary fees to start construction.
