President Trump--Who will pay for the wall? MEXICO screamed the crowd! WHAT is the problem? After days of shouting MEXICO PAYS(220 times) and weeks of TV discussions, if President has any ability to perform this should be easy. MEXICO PAYS A non-partisan no legislation needed solution.
5
Maybe Sarah Sanders should remind 45 that Nobody voted for Hannity, Coulter, Limbaugh, et al, so it’s ok for him to hang up the phone on them.
17
Peter Baker
Some one
Needs to explain to the public the false Trump claim that Mexico will pAy for the wall indirectly
Any tariffs on imported Mexican goods are actually custom duties. These fees are paid by the USA company that is importing the goods. The duty finds its way into the US treasury.
Mexico has no part in these payments. There is no indirect money coming from Mexico
If the USA company has to pay more for Mexican goods because of increased duty,
They will raise there prices to the consumer.
Therefore the USA consumer / taxpayer ( including Trumps base) will end up paying for the wall
Bob Drake
14
Why doesn't he ask his rallying "base," The Kochs, Hannity, Limbaugh, Adelson, Fox News, Washington Times, National Enquirer, Hedge Funders with deep pockets, etc to pay for his darling wall? Just think of all the future goodies they will eventually reap from this gesture of "philanthropy."
He can even ask Putin, Russian oligarchs, Mafia, the Saudis and its famous sadistic Prince, etc...I mean, Donald's rolodex has all these valuable contacts in places of power and they can easily solve this by pouring money into his infantile project.
19
2020 "Dump trump" if he's still in office.
10
Anyway you spin it, the Democrats failed to score political points (the real goal) against Pres Trump on the shutdown.
His approval rating actually rose after his sotu address.
How could this happen when there are Russians and Nazis in every street corner of America. Oh well, time to get back to clawing scotus doors
3
The partisans who inhabit states thousands of miles from our southern border don't know and don't care about our nation's security. They are just about political wins and losses. In this case, a win for them and a loss for the American public.
It is disturbing that those who promote an open border cannot see the impact of our outmoded, unresponsive immigration laws and refuse to consider needed reform. Today, the U.S. remains a magnet for those leaving undemocratic states as well as those with criminal intent. Welcome to these new tax liabilities.
7
@jrgfla
Where do you read that anyone supports open borders? Nobody does. What is supported is decent treatment of people coming to the border to escape the violence in their own counties in South America.
Of course trump is condoning and even encouraging violence in our once great country.
11
My dog understands the art of the deal better than Mr. Trump does. He showed us that he has no idea how to negotiate. Stamping his foot and insisting on getting things all his own way has worked for him when he had leverage against little guys. But repeatedly stiffing small businesses that can’t hold out forever to collect their money doesn’t really prepare one for negotiating with the Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi was happy to show Mr Trump how to roll over before receiving his treat.
18
Mr. Trump deserved support because he still forced concessions that he would never have gotten without a five-week partial government shutdown.
He actually was offered more money with the last proctored bipartisan deal that he torpedoed at the very last minute that prompted the government shutdown. He has NOTHING to show for the shutdown other than $7 billion more to the national debt and close to a million people missing 6 weeks of work.
10
Andy Surabian and James Jay Carafano are now reduced to signaling to the base, which includes the conservative press, how to interpret the news so that they don't have to admit abject defeat. Shrewd!
4
The Trump regime is busy trying to put lipstick on a pig. Even if Trump were somehow able to finagle a way to fund his "big, beautiful all", it would take at least the rest of his term just to plan it.
Once planning was complete, it would take two years to build. And that doesn't account for all the lawsuits by stakeholders and environmental groups who would oppose the appropriation of the land needed for the wall.
Trump's wall iis DOA.
7
What rights do other countries have in sending and selling drugs to the United States? We do have the right to put up a wall. These drugs hurt the brains and intelligence of the people who take them. Young people are vulnerable; they are the next generation to support, teach, and govern our country.
1
@Sandra J. Amodio
Remember that drug smugglers generally don't bring drugs over the border in the middle of the night in a remote desert, as you might imagine--it's just too difficult and you stick out like a sore thumb to the border patrol. No, their MO is to cross through the border check-points in semi trucks--their drugs concealed within legitimate cargo. Didn't you see recent news about the latest big bust AT A BORDER CROSSING STATION?
6
@Sandra J. Amodio
They have no right to do any of that. However, the vast majority of that comes in through ports and legal points of entry - which is why the majority of Congress wants to allocated money to improve security at those places
7
I live in Texas. I don't like Trump. And I am in favor of a wall. There are good reasons for a wall and frankly I'm sick of democrats shooting it down for no other reason than to oppose Trump. Also, if you don't live along the border, shut up. I don't get to have an opinion about the fence surrounding your back yard do I? I watched illegals come into Texas 30 years ago and take many construction jobs for peanut wages under the table that my father once did operating heavy equipment for 15-20 dollars an hour. 20 years later when he retired he was making 10 bucks an hour while contractors paid families of Mexicans cash for far less. I know for a fact as a Texas resident that illegal immigration hurts Texas. Schools, hospitals, and local economies have all been affected over the years. Build the wall.
5
I just heard that Mitch McConnell has said that Trump will sign the spending bill, then declare a national emergency.
Today is the one year anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School In that time 1,200 children have been killed by gunfire in this country.
Would someone care to define national emergency?
18
Anyone who thinks Don Trump won't again spite Congress re the border security compromise is seriously underestimating his perversity and his fatuously vain but aggressive self-centeredness. He is just laying low until Barr is confirmed.
4
The right is like a little child and the rest of us are the parent that should not leave a child unattended—lest you get one in the White House.
2
Face the facts, Donnie: the "wall" was a memory device to keep you riling up your base about "immigration."
You promised that "MEXICO will pay for the wall."
Your base is riled up.
Mexico is NOT paying even one penny for the wall.
Your base is a MINORITY, so "NO WALL FOR YOU."
Speaker Pelosi is not going to cave to your wacky base because you made a dumb campaign promise that you have no way of making come true.
8
If there is a serious emergency facing the United States, the American people should feel secure in the knowledge that Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity will be making the decisions for you.
Seriously, is this what the great USA has fallen to? Rule by TV commentators? This is a very worrying and frightening situation for the whole world. How long will congress allow this to continue?
44
Trump is a simple-minded angry narcissist who caters exclusively to his loyal supporters. He's their president, not ours. His incoherent bravado and endless intellectual dishonesty only give way when he comprehends he is going to lose. He views all of life as a zero-sum game, with absolute winners and losers, and he will do anything to avoid acknowledging losing. He believes himself to be a successful negotiator when he's actually a bully relying on disruption and chaos. In other words, a loser who pretends he's always a winner.
Eclectic Pragmatism — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/
Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism
28
@Eduardo B Perfectly said.
1
@Eduardo B I wouldn't count on Trump to sign compromise. He wants to again shut down government just to vie and prove who's boss.
1
Re: the wall--I know how we can bring Trump around; let's make the border the most FANTASTIC trans-national golf course ON THE PLANET! There could be lots of sand traps (of course,) and instead of a wall, they would put up plenty of that cheap netting you see around driving ranges. People caught crossing would be arrested and immediately be given jobs in maintenance and hospitality. And through a mutually beneficial deal with Mexico, these workers would be paid far less than US workers so as not to offend. We could call for an act of Congress to allow Trump to take out a MASSIVE loan and become a principle owner in the deal. And the "piece de resistance" would be to name the whole obscenity after him--Donald Trump Most Beautiful Shiny Sub-Par Golf O' Rama Course. That would do it.
13
Take a bow, New York Times, for you are our true masters of understatement.
Whereas most of us would be hard pressed to describe our President's recent legislative journey without--as you might put it on your own pages--"unprintable language involving short words and phrases centered on the anatomical and scatological", the Gray Lady regales us with a missing "acknowledgements" and failures to "assuage conservatives". (I'd probably be afraid to ask our Commander in Chief what he though "assuage" meant.)
I write this with tongue only partly in-cheek. Your language is so deliciously remote from the 24/7 broadcast of uniform nastiness from our current President. Your coverage, along with our valiant corps of late night tv hosts, is the only way I can digest this news without.....well, you could guess.
So again, take that bow; you've been doing this for my whole lifetime, both with and without William Safire. It's why I pay to subscribe to *you* and *not* to cable news.
14
I pledge allegiance to the United States of FOX...
No, I didn't and no, I won't.
10
Only in the NYT will a person find so much negativity about Republicans and the President.
2
@John Vive the NYT then! Read all about it-- the Trumpian right is on the wrong side of America.
10
.
@John, So? you wouldnt deny DT askd for it...
would you?
.
1
@John, that is not true. I see that negativity everywhere I look, and I live in a deep red state. What I have not found, however, is anything that the NYT has said about Republicans or the tweeter-in-chief that is not true.
12
Somehow I doubt that James Carafano, if Trumpsky had gotten his way on this, would be saying that he'd only won Round One. Sorry, sir, but this is a loss, no matter how disingenuously you try to spin it, and you can be sure the Loser-in-Chief is feeling it. Oh, and what makes you think Pelosi isn't in it for the full ten rounds?
10
We all knew Mexico wasn’t going to pay for ANY portion of HIS wall. We knew this from the get-go. We also knew it would fall back on the “taxpayers” to finance the wall, and that we’d NEVER see any “payback” eventually as he tried to get us to believe. Did anyone ask him “if the taxpayers money is going to fund your wall, whose taxes are going to fund the rest of the budget?” Isn’t that where our CURRENT taxes go? Into the budget and reducing the deficit? The only way he could possibly fulfill both, is by increasing OUR taxes, because the 1% already got their tax cut! Hit the middle class up once again? People that have already had their 2018 taxes completed have proven that they’re either getting much less of a refund, or they’re suddenly having to pay way more than they did before. Just how does this give the middle class more money in their pockets? Now with the new tax laws, states that were able to use their state real estate taxes as a deduction on their federal taxes. I know, the “up to $10K” you can claim. That really doesn’t do much for the people that pay double and triple that.
3
Apparently we are finally on the verge of being run like a Trump business.
4
Why doesn’t he just reverse the tax cut he gave the 1%? That would cover the rest of his 5.7 billion, wouldn’t it? Notice that never became part of the equation? No, taxpayers can pay for it, take it from the military, take it from SS, take it from Medicare/Medicaid. You just can’t catch up if you constantly borrow from Peter to pay Paul.
3
.
@MZ, The military stash: one B-2 bomber cost $2.1 billion [ two point one] and the Pentagon bought twenty of em.
Upgrades and maintenance are extra.
.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/10/business/la-fi-stealth-bomber-20100610
.
Twenty B-2 Stealth bombers @
.
$2.1 billion each...[no typo]
.
“…one of the most expensive weapons development efforts since the
.
Manhattan Project [the A bomb project]…”
.
The Air Force spent more than $800 million in 2009 upgrading, maintaining and overhauling the stealth bomber fleet.
.
For each hour it's in the air, a bomber spends 50 to 60 [sixty] hours on the ground undergoing maintenance...
.
4
His supporters have absolutely NOTHING to be angry about with regard to any member of Congress. The person who occupies the position of POTUS repeatedly claimed that he would build a wall and get Mexico to pay for it. Instead of engaging Mexican officials in a discussion about a need for the wall and at least getting some assistance paying for it, the person who occupies the postion of POTUS and his administration have done nothing to make that happen. Instead, they have demanded US tax dollars be used, against the will of the vast majority of the American people, to pay for something that was never part of the Trump stump with regard to US tax dollars - and done nothing to engage our Mexican neighbors, who also have to live with the wall. His base should be angry at Trump and his administration - they need to get off their behinds, stop tweeting, and get working with Mexico on this if they want it to happen. That is called living up to your word.
4
Mark Meadows and the Freedom Caucus, really how many people do they actually represent? And the dude from the Heritage Foundation with his 10 round fight analogy. How long has Nancy Pelosi been in the House? That is so chauvinistic. She'll be back for round 2 and every round from here on out until Trump and his cronies are escorted out of the White House and sanity is restored. Trump is the most narcissistic undemocratic President in anyone's lifetime. Round 2 please!
11
@Pancho
By my count, this was round 2, making the score: Pelosi 2, Trump 0. What will his apologists say when the score reaches 6-0? "Best of 15?"
2
@Pancho, Trump is that, but he's also right on the Wall.
And DT or other pro-Wallers will win bc in the event it's not realized now that the Wall is a national security necessity,
it soon will be. Unfortunately the longer the Wall is politically obstructed, the more damaging that realization will be :
Think massive, repeated caravans.
.
The angry Right has never been good for this nation. Never.
Remember the Tories. Then and now.
6
Why doesn't this article note that Trump effort to "redirect" funds allocated by Congress to different activities is legally dubious? Why doesn't this article note that a declaration of national emergency would also be legally dubious. Why doesn't this article note that in either case, litigation would block Trump from actually using money for the wall for a long time?
6
What else is new?
The angry right is always angry at someone or something.
It may be the only way they know how to live.
9
I'm tired of talk about a wall instead of comprehensive immigration policy reform. If there's a national emergency here, I'd say it's government sponsored, taxpayer funded kidnapping and child abuse at the border. But I digress. We're missing a bipartisan opportunity to address a complex and difficult situation badly in need of fixing, and physical barriers are only one part of the picture. But of course that would require leadership which POTUS is unwilling and unable to provide. I realize his first priority is to deliver on a campaign promise that will keep the folks in MAGA hats coming to his rallies. But that's not what the country needs. Buck up, Mr. Trump, and at least try to act like the President of the United States.
20
There is a frightening symbiosis between the WH and FN. It is as close as we've come yet to having State Television. What I want to know is why the men who run Fox hate our Republic so much. Please guys, help me understand.
63
"Mexico will pay for the wall!"
Too funny...
12
@GR
The sad/funny part is that Mexico didn't know anything about it. Trump just announced it one day. And this is how he thinks the world operates?
Sad, really, really sad.
6
@T3D With his no-good rubber-stamping Republican Senate, this is indeed how his world is operating.
2
Yes, round one is over but Pelosi should not be credited with the knockout. That honor belongs to Donald Trump, himself. May he be known to all, henceforth, as KO Trump. Well wishers should send boxing gloves to prevent further self-inflicted injury.
Yes, there are remaining pockets (some of them substantial) of troglodytes who will chow down (with relish) on virtually any pot of beggar's porridge placed in front of them as long as it is laced with adequate dashes of xenophobia and racist venom.
America's dark past continues to raise its ugly head. Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity are less news commentators and more the hosts of daily cooking shows renowned for a continuous array of spicy, if disgusting, concoctions.
However, the November 2018 electoral thumping that the GOP got, not to mention Trump's current retreat, indicate that large sections of the public have now grown tired with insanity, ineptitude, foolishness, and grasping personal corruption as longterm principles of public governance.
"Out, damned spot! out, I say!" More than one former Trump supporter now lies awake at night regretting their 2016 vote and looking forward to the day when that noxious stain will be removed from the badly damaged fabric of American life, permanently.
19
The first mistake anyone makes, including Trump, is to put any degree of confidence in what Dobbs or Fox news in general says.
And they can be mad as hell about not getting a wall, but I fail to see how their credentials as to what works or not on immigration control are any better than mine, which says I know that it won't work.
What a dysfunctional system the news programs have descended into with their self importance.
14
I am looking forward to seeing the Emperor Trump posed proudly in front of his non-existent wall in his new clothes! This will be a perfect visual representation of what he has accomplished as POTUS since he was put in office with the help of his Russian pals.
Bram Stoker, please take note!!!
4
“But we have options that most people don’t really understand.”
Well, since most of us are far more intelligent than you, tell us what these options are.
20
"One call was made to Lou Dobbs, a favorite of Mr. Trump’s whose Fox Business Network show he often tries to catch live."
More Executive time...laziest POTUS ever.
22
Heh. Trump got whupped again...but I absolutely adore the “We educated the public,” drivel of an excuse.
Get used to it, kids. Because the only reasons Trump’s got anything done so far has been McConnell’s competence, a lot of corrupt behavior, and a gutless, toadying House.
That changed in November. But hey, tell yourselves that the coming court battles are a win, that trump won on the muslim ban and similar insanities.
11
You know what could really assuage the "angry right"? If Trump and the Republicans would finally tell them the truth about what a minor problem illegal immigration really is, anyway. Even from a tactical standpoint, it seems weird that Trump keeps riding this racist straw horse rather than pushing things that he could more readily tout as genuine successes. It's like the racism really matters to him more than other things do.
27
We should have a Pink Floyd Tour along the southern border, with them singing "All in All, it's only Donaold Trump and his wall". Certainly would be a conversation piece.
6
.
@alank. Quite the contrary, the US needs another brick in the Wall,
and Another,
and ANOTHER !
.
[ cf. PF's iconic song, Another Brick in the Wall ]
.
1
this "president" is acting like a recalcitrant child and should be treated as such; Nancy Pelosi has the right idea.
15
Don the Con has one play, threaten. When that doesn't work he is a lost soul who has to lash out, make ridiculous claims or just flat out lie and claim victory when a blind man can see he's lost.
This sorry excuse for a leader is nothing more than an empty suit.
14
What isn’t being said is that our president is the master of disaster
What else will he mess up ?
10
If that's the best face dtrump can put on after this well deserved border deal defeat I'd hate to see his sour one. The best image I've seen of this "Squanderer In Chief" was a recent New Yorker Magazine cover which had him cementing a barbed wire-topped brick wall around his Oval Office desk.
10
Favorite opening line of a Times article during our sad Trump era.
2
Gee, thanks for setting him off again. Was this analysis really necessary?
Trump made a preposterous promise to his base and he now suffers the consequences. It's hard to know where to file this one: "Mendacity," "Incompetence," or "Pandering to racists."
5
When he signs Pelosi will have a TKO.
4
Did we bury the lead, here? Shouldn’t the focus of this piece be on the direct line from the White House to Fox News? I thought “requests for comment” were supposed to flow in the other direction.
5
Trump doesn't have a 'best face' .
7
Every time people think they know what Big Don will do he does the opposite. Chicken-counting is a mugs game.
1
Punishing or just and well deserved?
Like all the bragging of Trump being the ultimate deal maker Trump is a fraud , a spoiled brat bully who inherited 400 million while claiming to be a self made billionaire. Putin helped put Trump in office and has him compromised shown by his flunk Pence calling out our allies in Poland a prelude to withdraw from NATO as Putin has required Trump to do in order to maintain his silence ,per their secret meetings overseas.
10
So, now that we've purchased the world's most expensive fence, can we please get down to work on saving the planet and, with it, humanity?????
31
"And indeed, despite his complaints about the bill, Mr. Meadows made a point on Wednesday of not blaming Mr. Trump. “I think he handled it as well as anybody could handle it, given a dysfunctional Congress,” Mr. Meadows told reporters."
This is maddening! For starters, both houses of Congress were under Republican control for two years, so if there was any 'dysfunction' then, we know who gets the blame. Secondly, I don't think Congress is currently being dysfunctional on this--I think it's reflecting the will of the people, a vast majority of whom do not want a wall, rather well!
11
As long as signing this agreement is not dispositive to accessing other funding sources; go for it.
1
@batazoid
Or, conversely: It's time to up the ante, Mr. President.
A government shutdown.
Simply address the American people from the Oval Office and lay out your position on wall-funding and what legislation you need, and why, to wit:
The first bill would demand the implementation of a mandatory E-Verify requirement.
The second bill would restrict asylees to designated ports of entry (for the safety of all involved) and an immediate return of all those who try to cross our borders elsewhere without a hearing.
The third bill would agree to birthright citizenship reform, restricting the offspring born here of alien parents from becoming U.S. citizens at birth.
2
I believe Trump can sell any rationale to his base and they will be OK with it. They are conditioned to his lies and, I agree with the last paragraph, his supporters are more about the fight. If he tries but doesn’t succeed, he is still a winner in their minds. It is all about the disruption and sticking it to the dems. He is fighting for them and that’s all that counts.
4
If the Border Wall was so urgent and the oppressed people who are seeking asylum here are such a threat then why didn’t Trump make this issue the very first action he took as POTUS? If our country is in such danger then how can he possibly justify his seventeen trips to Mar-a-Lago (at 3.6 million dollars each…) The truth is, he’s behaving like a cornered rat who will do ANYTHING to deflect attention away from the High Crimes and Misdemeanors he and his family and connections have committed. He has done untold damage to millions affected by the first Shutdown and to tax-paying (ahem, Mr. Trump) Americans nationwide since entering the office of the presidency, and emboldened hatred worldwide heretofore unheard of. I weep for this Country, and hope and pray that we will join together to repair what damage has been done to these United States of America.
17
COPY EDITOR, please correct from"Instead of Mexico directly paying for a $25 billion, 1,000-mile concrete barrier, as the president once said would happen..." to the more accurate,
"Instead of Mexico directly paying for a $25 billion, 1,000-mile concrete barrier, as the president REPEATEDLY said would happen..."
8
"Instead of Mexico directly paying for a $25 billion, 1,000-mile concrete barrier, as the president once said would happen, he has been seeking partial installments from Congress, arguing that his new trade agreement with Mexico will ultimately pay off enough to offset the cost." Once said would happen? How about repeated like a broken record during his campaign?
13
his major defeat showed we have a president who does not understand - or care - how our government works. He ended up with a "deal" that was worse then when he started simply because of his need for "winning" Well, he lost. Now the right is trying to turn it into a win. And BTW, where are the pesos??
10
@glenn, "win...lost" ? its not over; as someone said, "this is just round 1"
PS: there's no downside to the Wall, so what's the Dem's [ I'm one of em ] motive for their fanatical obstructionism ?
.
Another silver lining of the shutdown was educating a large swath of anti-government people about how much good the federal government really does, impacting in positive ways people across the country.
Government is us, together, deciding what kind of society and priorities we wish to have. It requires oversight, but it is not the intrinsic evil many on the right have professed it to be. Hopefully that experience, painful as it was, exposed a few of those minds to some much needed illumination.
13
What happened to Mexico paying for the wall? Why aren’t politicians and journalists holding Trump accountable for this campaign promise? He is just adding to our debt.
Isn’t the greatest threat to our national security our nearly 22 Trillion dollar debt? Approximately 2 trillion dollars of it are from fighting the War on Terror. Why hasn’t any President since 9/11 asked Americans to pay for the War on Terror?
American corporations doing business around the world reap the profits from stability ensured by the US Military and those corporations should pay more to reduce the War debt.
Americans themselves enjoy safety and security provided by the sacrifices made by men and women in uniform and they should also help pay for the war debt. For years, rather than someone thanking me for my service, I would rather they said I support a national sales tax to pay down our war debt.
10
Is there any way to question Trump as to what he means when he uses the word soul - as in "crisis of the soul"? Are there any theologians or metaphysicians among us who would like to try engaging him on this?
3
Who are the supporters of "tougher" border security? Is there anybody on either side wishing to allow undocumented individuals through the border? This is not a matter of "what." It is a matter of "how."
6
It's completely disingenuous to state that liberals do not want border security. Liberals most certainly do want secure borders. Different than conservatives however, liberals want border security that actually works. Something more in line with 21st century technology than with 14th century stone building.
23
That this news will be spun by the Great Negotiator and his minions--and a good number of pundits of a certain persuasion--goes without saying. Just curious about what "facts" and arguments they'll use to support their assertions.
1
Some of us who live along the border have noticed that the farther away a person lives from this region, the more rabid is his/her desire to build the wall. But people living in places like North Carolina and Tennessee don't realize how formidable a desert is; it is a natural wall unto itself. Imagine the toll this massive construction project would take on the environment; does America really want to wall off the Rio Grande river? To those who live in Appalachia: imagine a "Great Wall of China" built right down the middle of your beautiful mountain range. Nice idea, right?
Those who support the idea of smart surveillance technology are absolutely right. We will get more for our money by using airplanes, drones and beefing up the border patrol. Air-to-ground surveillance systems can spot crossers, where they will be apprehended.
Walls are an anachronism and a product of a medieval mindset.
21
You are making a wrong assumption about this - it isn't over. Trump will declare a national emergency and take funding from other sources like FEMA . In so doing he will punish states for opposing him by denying them disaster relief, like he did in Puerto Rico.
10
“Mr. Trump’s inability to reach a satisfying deal despite the negotiating experience he regularly touted on the campaign trail..... Trump’s “negotiation skills he brags about were primarily squeezing vendors without leverage to do his bidding. Why anyone would extrapolate this to the political scene in DC as being directly applicable for a ‘businessman’ totally unprepared for any political arena is beyond my understanding. Trump is now the dog on the porch begging for food from his master, Congress.
12
Have been reading and watching TV on this great fight by two political parties on an issue which may not sound more important than the children who lost being with their parents from across the impending wall. The US is the pilor of democracy and we are so confused at the end of the day to even believe in freedom and independence that we cherish in our countries.
But ultimately it is the spirit of democracy and our belief in the democratic institutions that was a victor. 55 miles or 550 miles or 5500 miles of barrier is not the issue. The issue is “ do we need such barriers to separate humanity?” My answer is a big NO. I am from India.
5
This was like a "bacio di morte" from Trump's higher power, "Donna" Corleone (aka Divine Miss Nancy). My crystal ball sees a trifecta of converging tsunamis for our "always winning" POTUS: without any definite time frame, just as Mueller's investigation presents its findings, so the missing tax returns inexorably appear linking his financial liaison with Putin, as from out of thin air, accompanied by indictments for certain Trump family members. I think it's called synchronicity from the side of justice, and bad destiny for our pampered pugnacious president.
8
Don't forget to give credit to Stephen Miller, Trump's immigration adviser, for all this winning.
12
As the president has changed his slogan to "finish the wall" about an edifice not yet started, I think Democrats should play along. Start congratulating him on his achievement, say that with this compromise legislation his wall will soon be finished. He's already been saying this, his base will believe him and the rest of us can finally stop hearing about this absurd issue.
11
In the world of Real Estate, if you want a deal, you talk with a prospective partner. If they are not agreeable to your terms, you pull out, and go down the street to the next prospect.
Alas for Trump - there is only ONE Congress. He can not go down the street to find one that is more agreeable. His previously successful negotiating tactics do not work if you have to stay at the table and work something out.
The root of this problem is the idea that negotiating is a zero-sum game. Trump cannot conceive of a deal in which all sides get a win.
5
Trump being Trump, what really is galling to him about this whole episode has nothing to do with the damage it caused to the economy, the hurt suffered by federal employees, or the embarrassment he is experiencing because he lost like the loser he really is. No, it's more serious (to him) than any of that.
It's that he has missed dozens of rounds of golf in south Florida while being holed up in the White House with nothing to do but build up "Executive Time." Poor baby.
6
Trump could build the wall himself. With all the Russian financing he gets.
12
I'm not happy that a slew of people will continue to further be enabled to illegally sneak into the country.
This is a defense issue. So take money from the defense budget and build the wall.
The government ordered 2,424 F35 aircraft for $210 million a piece. Cancel 20 of them and there's your wall funding.
I think that we can make do with only 2,404 F-35's.
2
The democrats hope of scoring political points against the President during the shutdown did not materialize.
We know this because his approval rating actually rose after his state of the union address
If Mr Trump acted on what was best for the country and not what was best for Mr Trump's reputation he would be supported by the majority of the country and wouldn't fall so far flat on his face.
1
Democrats failed to mute this issue as a campaign slogan by not giving enough money to build a wall/barrier which more than enough Americans consider a necessary thing to control illegal immigration. If Democrats had given Trump at least $2B, it would have been difficult to spin it. Now it is easy to spin that Democrats are for open borders, they even tried to cut the number of beds to detain illegals. Democrats lost by winning the budget battle.
1
I don't care what "face" Trump puts on the compromise bill as long as he signs it. Let him call it a win.
The important thing is to move past Trump's silly wall obsession to more reasonable immigration laws and enforcement. We don't need people sleeping on concrete floors with only mylar blankets. It is both less expensive and more humane to allow asylum seekers and most others to move on to homes while they await their status hearings.
1
Let us cut to the chase, Mr. Trump or the House should release all of his tax returns so the American People can see for themselves how Mr. Trump moves money around.
7
Why should my tax dollars be used to placate the self generated fear of 33% of voters (republicans). Current military budget is 56% or $725 billion dollars, $50-100 billion for a wall, right wing gun rights and deaths. We have no war, cut the budget. Lets have a vote on the wall and settle this.
1
Remarkable that Trump continues to appeal to FoxNews types such as Dobbs, Hannity, Ingraham, and their ilk for approbation, rather than his own party Congressional leadership. Seems that those to whom he’s answerable has rapidly shrunk into a narrow universe of right-wing bloviators, who seem to have the right of first refusal for his various posturing. Beggars the mind, all of this “ Wall” business.
4
sorry, I just don't understand.
The NY Times reported yesterday that there are already 1000 miles of wall/barriers along the southern border, and that Trump wants to build another 600 miles of it.
Who built the first 1000 miles ?
Why the hyperbole that that Trump wants to build ?
Why has there been no such acrimony for the first 1000 miles ?
A historical story about drugs and the "Wall."
Several years ago, I went on a horse ride in the Sierras. In the course of riding the John Muir trail on the backbone of the Sierras, we kept meeting three men who were agents of the Alameda Sheriff's drug department. Why were they there????
Well, because the cartel's of drug dealers where flying single and two motors planes and dropping the drugs near a number of spots in some miles west of the parking spots. No need to bring it in at the border. Just fly in over. And as you all know, kilos of drugs came in by ship and submarine. "We don't care about stinkin' walls. We go over, under and around." All thanks to the writers of "Treasure of Sierra Madre," for the paraphrase of the first sentence of the quote.
2
I do not see it as a punishing defeat. That happened when Trump could not receive his wall from a Republican Congress. Now, Trump will get his wall by a more direct Executive way. He really does not need all five or six billion at once. It will take years to build the wall and he can use various funds in succession over several years with the possibility of a second term depending on future events. I would not crow about any defeat just yet. Also, I would not bet on his losing in SCOTUS when the inevitable court battles come about over the wall.
Having said this, I am not a supporter of Trump.
13
@WSF
I'm amused that you think Trump is going to actually pull off a full term in office.
40
@WSF I'm reminded of an army general who wanted an airstrip in, I believe, Fort Leavenworth. His request was repeatedly denied, so he resorted to building "parking lots", with extra thick concrete, adjacent to one another. He went to the stockade.
Let's hope that Individual 1 goes to the stockade before squandering too much of our hard earned tax money.
57
@WSF The $5 billion was just a downpayment on the wall. The full cost is $25 billion to $50 billion. If he gets just a billion a year for the rest of his term (or even a second term), there's not going to be much of a wall.
11
1.375 billion dollars for 55 miles of fence
Or 25 million dollars a mile
Or just a bit over 4700 dollars a foot
Boy, I’m glad it’s being done by the party of fiscal responsibility and not the one that passes huge giveaway tax cuts and plans on $1tn deficits.
Oh.
Wait a minute.
Never mind
67
@Kasten
perhaps he could take the billions allocated over time and put the cash in little clay pots at some point where people trying to cross to the US could find it, and then no wall is needed as the money would help them just as much.
Maybe it's finally dawning on Trump that the U.S. president does not rule by decree. A Republican-dominated Congress may have been willing to roll over for his every asinine command, but it's a whole different landscape when the speaker of the house suddenly isn't afraid of you anymore.
40
@Doug Gillett
Doug, the only time anything will "dawn" on Trump is when the jail door lock "clicks' behind him.
Maybe not even then....
4
Trump lost his argument for the wall because it is based on lies, misinformation, and racism. Period. Federal workers and contractors also lost but they never asked to be involved in this fight.
I don't see this as a win for Nancy Pelosi. This is the wrong way to see this. I think the American people and simple human decency won. The American people because their hard earned money is not being spent on a useless ugly wall. And human decency won because the majority of the American people didn't support the wall and for once, they were heard.
47
@Eddie That's correct. Nancy did her job-- supporting the American people for a safe border. Now, she did it very well, but WE are the winners.
4
No doubt Trump's best face will include a scowl. It should be a good one.
13
@RNS He is always scowling. The only time I see him smile is when he thinks he is clever or funny.
3
Ah yes, the stable genius and great negotiator... unmasked as the true charlatan, grifter that he is (and always has been).
52
@Tired of Complacency
He'll never be "unmasked." Too many people already drank the Kool-Aid. They'll believe anything he says. He'll come up with some way to prop up his negotiating skills.
2
One thing I have not seen discussed is if the president moving funds around between congressionally approve spending bills is constitutional.
Isn't the whole idea of separations of power to stop imperial presidents from bypassing equal but separate institutions, like the congress and the courts? Or is there something in the fine print of spending bills passed by congress that says 'but only if the president feels like it'?
Might this become the focus of legal challenges in much the same way his 'national emergency' declaration surely will?
Honestly, I took a government class in college and in graduate school, but I'm lost on this one.
19
@Jensetta
There has been much speculation about this. Hard to reply definitively because WH has been pretty vague about where exactly they would be taking the money from. They might be able to scrounge a few million here and there, but obtaining any significant amount of funds would be unlikely short of impermissibly taking funds appropriated for completely unrelated purposes. Doing so would be quickly followed by court proceedings challenging same as an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress's power to appropriate. Unlike some of the above posters, I do not believe that even the current SCOTUS would permit that. But I do agree with others above that Trump doesn't actually give a hoot whether or not the wall is built. It's the perception that he's fighting for it that's important to his supporters.
2
Obama moved funds around and even disregarded the section of the healthcare law that provided long term care coverage. Obama said that he didn’t care if it was lawHe was going to disregard it. Trump just needs to do what Democrats allowed Obama to do.
I am fairly tired of hearing about "...Trump's base....". We will ultimately have to reach some understanding with them as the country cannot go on like this. But they have to get a bit more rational first. If they don't then we just have to beat them.
16
@Lefthalfbach
I understand your hopes, but what in our recent experience suggests his 33% (and the politicians afraid of them) will become more rational? In their view, they are winning every news cycle, even the ones that make reasonable people dizzy.
I have a sinking feeling that our simmering civil war won't get settled around a negotiating table.
13
@Lefthalfbach
If what's-his-name's "base" gets "a bit more rational first?" Who thinks they're rational at all?
4
@Lefthalfbach If you assume that the base can become more rational, then you are implicitly assuming that they will respond to facts. We know full well that they do not. So far, the only thing that seems to have penetrated their bubble is that the Trump tax "cut" didn't really cut their taxes.
6
Is everyone starting to realize this business about being a great negotiator and deal maker is another myth of Trump?
34
@William Whitaker
Yep, but not starting--realized long ago that this individual is now "acting" president, just as most of his cabinet now has "acting" Secretaries, and he has been on stage and in character every day for decades, back to adolescence at least and blossoming when he found celebrity in Reality TV; he has no underlying stable personality structure, no stable moral and ethical convictions, no interest in history, governance, or the emotional and social struggles of other people--
only enormous anxieties and the huge obsessive drive to control them while being the constant center of attention, and convince/manipulate everyone around him to live into his mythic world.
Every day in every way, it's all an act, and always will be.
--From a retired psychiatrist
3
@William Whitaker I do not believe you have knowledge of all the things President Trump has accomplished.
@William Whitaker
A myth built by his television show. A conman extraordinaire....and 40% of the American public are hooked by his razzmatazz.
4
For decades, bipartisan immigration policy started with securing the border. Few opposed a physical barrier as long as the cost was manageable. Trump has been all over the place on cost. And now Democrats object to whatever he proposes. There was a time that a barrier of reasonable cost and something approaching amnesty may have carried the day. Now we have moved far backwards and no agreement is in sight. Immigration used to be one issue where an agreement frequently seemed possible. Now it is one of the most divisive issues. The call for a wall has set us way back.
5
@michjas It was really for decades the GOP promised to negotiate seriously on immigration policy if only the border was secured 1st. Well Obama did his part, but it turned out the GOP lied and refused to negotiate. That's what is coming back to bite the GOP & the nation.
1
@michjas Obama and co had a very reasonable Immigration Reform Bill that was opposed primarily by McConnell. Mitch is more to blame for a President like Trump than Trump himself.
I am very pleased that Congress finally started exerting a positive influence on Trump’s antics. I have been waiting close to two years to see the end of the somnolent approach to their responsibilities. I credit one person for this turnabout, Nancy Pelosi. She is a powerfully good influence on the knuckle draggers in the Senate.
28
Remember this, every time you vote: if the candidate has an (R) next to their name, they are part of this problem.
42
Here’s the deal to give the President:
Promise 18 billion for boarder security and a wall paid in instalments over the next six years of his presidency in exchange for electoral boundaries across the country to be redrawn fairly eliminating all gerrymandering and voter suppression.
5
@R. Koreman
Fair boundaries should be the norm, not something that requires giving in to blackmail.
1
@R. Koreman
Far from a crazy idea, R. Koreman. A Republican part that had managed to whittle itself down to a permanent minority found new life through illegal and unethical redistricting and voter suppression. Without blowing up those structures, it's hard to see how genuine participatory democracy can reestablish itself.
That plan won’t pass in states gerrymandered to elect Democrats.
I cannot help but wonder how LBJ would have run this gauntlet if he had decided we needed a wall. First he would have made a sober speech getting everyone's attention but not promising anything concrete. No pun intended. He would make vague references to something like, "we need the wall to build a great society, a place where the meaning of man’s life matches the marvels of man’s labor.”
Then he would have picked up the phone and begin calling supporters to get their input....He would get Texan ranchers on board, Arizona folks, and the rest. Skillfully using his own Congressional experience to cajole, arm twist, strong arm, make promises, threats and then weave together a package that would result in a wall that his lose team of supporters could support. Then he would go back on TV..and give a speech. If there were still any hold out he would send Hubert out to quell the complainers.
This is hypothetical of course. LBJ would never have used his great Congressional acumen and power of the White House to build an unnecessary wall. But he would have known how to do it.
Trump lacks any modicum of sense when it comes to legislation, getting it through and living with the inevitable compromises that have to be made. He is a complete amateur.
19
It's becoming more plain every day (except to those rally zealots who seem to have nothing else to think about) that Trump never really had any intention of following through on his promises because he really had no clue how government works. He just thought that he could "make it so," like Captain Piccard at the helm of the Enterprise. But while that futuristic vessel ran on
nuclear power, Trump's jalopy runs on gas, and it's not exactly high octane....mostly methane, it seems.
(And he's also the one putting sugar in the tank because it's
"beautiful!")
16
If the president "lost"--the definitive conclusion of this article--then did the nation "win"? The personalized journalism here (as elsewhere) does not focus on the bigger question of what does the common good gain.
The nation won, not in what it had to endure to achieve this negative result, but in agreeing--from its better part--that Trump's wall was not the best policy. The failure of "The Great Divider" to make a convincing argument to reason--what Congress reflects much better than the White House--should give some comfort to democrats (small d).
Meanwhile, our sensationalistic professional journalists didn't do themselves proud. Don't pat yourselves on the back, NYT, for this ostensibly positive result. You didn't locate the wall discussion--to my reading--in the particular border areas where it belonged, instead too often talking of "the border" as if it was one homogeneous entity.
Now on to real accountability--Mueller!
7
It is true details don’t matter to Trump’s base. That is why they are Trump’s base because Trump isn’t interested in details or facts or reality, just like them. All he needs to do is say the wall is built and that is enough for them. He might not win the next election but as long as he stays xenophobic, racist, insults enemies of the people, and never admits reality, he will keep his 35% support.
11
@DO5 His support is higher than 35%. He and his supporters care about details. You must not have the knowledge about the details they have been stating. This would included border patrol management that Obama had during his administration.
@John - Trump supporters don't talk about details, they just parrot whatever lies and hate speech Trump blathers at them.
2
I wonder if Donald Trump is beginning to understand that, like a spoiled child, ideologues and political extremists expect to get 100% of what they want 100% of the time, or, like an angry mob that feels suddenly betrayed, they will turn on you in the most vicious fashion?
That in his search for power, Donald Trump created a monster. And that monster is no longer controlled by him, rather, it is he who is controlled by it?
No. I suppose not.
Great leaders understand something about the true nature of power. And that truth is this - Political power isn't something you "possess", rather, like a tool, it is something you "wield".
A simple but profound truth that an ego as large and self-obscuring as Trump's can never really grasp.
Like so many others before him, Donald Trump deluded himself into thinking that he was the "source" of his political power. That it emanated from him. That he alone controlled it. Never realizing that the relationship was actually the other way around.
When it comes to longevity, political power is eternal, it's the people that use it, or get used by it, that come and go.
Which brings me to another political truth. To paraphrase Napoleon, on the reason why there are so few great leaders, "To gain power one must be greedy and absolutely ruthless, but, in order to wield it properly, one must be truly giving and altruistic. And it's extremely rare that these two qualities exist in the same man."
Trump knows the former, and nothing of the latter.
11
@Chicago Guy, Donald Trump didn't create the monster, the GOP did. Trump just swooped in and scarfed up everything on the table that the GOP had been meticulously setting for years.
3
@62yoInGA
Close. But, I think your analogy is off.
While the GOP had created all the individual pieces, Donald Trump was the one that came along and put them all together - Just as Frankenstein did with his monster.
The GOP didn't really think he had a chance of winning. Trump probably didn't either. But, through his "rallies" Trump discovered the "voltage" he needed to bring it alive.
And we all know what that "voltage" really is. It's racism, xenophobia, and scapegoating. It's pure unadulterated hatred. Hatred of the "other". Hatred of the media. Hatred of "elites". Hatred of self-control, of moderation, of compromise. Hatred of anything and anything, but themselves.
And, all the while, the only thing that was truly worthy of that kind of hatred, was something that resided deep within themselves.
Luckily for us, and unfortunately for them, that kind of hatred is like a disease that eventually consumes it's host. And we are watching that consumption take place right now. In real-time.
The Wall, so to speak, is rapidly closing in on Mr. Trump, and his followers. Month by month. Week by week. Day by day. Hour by hour. Minute by minute. Which is great news for the rest of us!
Sadly, however, it's only a matter of time before another "doctor" comes along and discovers the same "voltage" Trump did. And the whole thing will start all over again.
Unless, of course, we find a way to inoculate ourselves against that kind of hatred. Dare I say on Valentine's day what that is?
To James Jay Carafano. Your analogy of round 1 of a 10 round fight is no good. We are at round 6 for his first term. Better question: what was he doing when republicans had the majority in both houses for the first 2 years? Playing too much golf?
So far I don’t see a winner in trump.
14
Nice plan Donnie,only you could get 1.375 Billion from 25 Billion, I can use you next time I need a new car.
Oh wait, never mind.
8
The shutdown was not useful, and Trump using Fox News as his personal voicebox, is stunning. Trump could not in any reality deliver on a promise to build a wall with Mexican funds, so again the truth is twisted like a pretzel to make it appear a win at any cost. Shameful.
13
Trump's concrete wall prototypes could easily become graffiti canvases. Maybe they could be donated to a museum.There won't ever be a 1000 miles of it at the border. The additional fencing of steel slats that was agreed upon is the same design as the barrier erected during the Bush Presidency. Mexico didn't pay for it, the American taxpayers did. We drive right by it every time we visit southern Arizona. If Trump ends up taking credit for the preexisting barrier I wouldn't be surprised. Hannity will tell Trump's base that it's a wall, even though you can see through it and they nod their heads in agreement. FOX is the national catastrophe. Trump is just a bumbling idiot who is in over his head.
29
@Just paying attention oh, my! Trump's business experience which included meetings with world leaders, prepared him well. I guarantee you that he is extremely intelligent. How many books have the average U. S. citizen written? How many world leaders have you met? It seems to me that your opinions are taken from friends, maybe online 'news' sources? It would probably be an eye-opener for you if you educate yourself on history an current affairs. While he distracted the oponion-givers, ie big media, he was busily taking care of business. There is no doubt in my mind that you care about this, and that's wonderful! Just form opinions from faces, don't swallow whole what you hear. Research!! God bless!
@Christine suroski
The question you posed is a good one:
"How many books has Trump written?" (last I heard he had a ghost writer) and more tellingly: "How many has he read?"
It is clear he's written more than read, and the number still holds at zero
3
@Christine suroski Trump didn't write any books, he had ghostwriters write the "auto"biographies for him. Several of the authors have come out publicly stating what a dishonest narcissist Trump is. Trump also doesn't read any books. All of our Presidents and Politicians meet with world leaders. Before the White House, Trump was meeting with businessmen around the world, not political leaders. Trump is a con man baby, a draft dodger, a six times bankrupt businessman who is currently paying a $25 Million dollar settlement to the students he defrauded with Trump University. He is an embarrassment to our country.
3
The shutdown was useful???? In what universe? Reality tv, maybe. Not real life.
25
He has been a terrible negotiator his entire life, and good for the country he is so inept.
It all comes back to the same issue as his leaked schedules. He is fundamentally lazy. He does no homework, does not read, has no substantive education, does not know therefore what he is talking about. He is an ignorant blowhard saying whatever he thinks will get the people in front of him to tell him he is great.
Because of that there is no serious policy discussion, no serious proposals, no details. Just empty slogans and hate rally applause lines.
65
@Johnyup!! I guess that's why he is so poor, shabbily dressed, has no wife or kids, etc. Is your past mistake-free? If so, you are either being dishonest, have blinders on, and have learned nothing. One learns from errors, not from taking no risks, or wearing a Kevlar Jacket 24 hours a day. Do some research, my fellow American!! God bless, and gool luck with your intense search for truth.
@John Totally... a psychopath only interested in getting re-elected and snapping up money wherever he can.
2
Proving once again, no matter how illogical or inane the excuse from the GOP, the press will repeat it like lemmings......."extra, extra, get your daily dose of stupid here"....
21
@sleeve you are using other people's opinions as your own. Have you researched to find the truth, or are you just not thinking, maybe? God bless!
How abt. opening a 'Go Fund Me' in spanish ? so Mexico can fund the wall as trump promised.
12
@elizabeth forrest
No one would donate.
Mexicans are far more politically savvy than Americans.
1
Thousands suffered and for what? A master negotiator NOT!
15
Caveman Trump surrenders to gavel-wielding grandma on his great beautiful wall which will now be a steel picket fence full with beautiful daises to be paid by our great conned Americans.
Now Trump can go back to increasing emoluments for his criminal family enterprise and spend more time on executive TV watching.
Happy Valentine's Day!
23
And where is the steel coming from that will build this 55 mile fence? Mexico? Now, wouldn't that be a kick in the head.
8
@Sparky Side note - Werner ladder company is moving manufacturing operations to Mexico. May as well build them where they're needed.
1
@Sparky
Sourced in China.
It's Congress that should have declared a National Emergency. Not, of course, because of the bogus, Trumped up "crisis" on our southern border, but because America voted a whacko into the White House.
17
The wall must be actively stopped. Only his small loyal base wants it, because they are dumb and or angry and hateful. None of the states, counties and cities that border Mexico want it. They see the divisive destructiveness of Trump's aggressiveness against brown immigrants. All the troops must be withdrawn from the border and all the stupid razor wire removed.
16
Why is the NYTimes celebrating this legislation as a defeat to Trump? What about the US, the citizens of the US? Most of us want security at the border; no open borders. We are not there. While the Dems cut budget for our security, at least there is some money for a fence or whatever. Shouldn't the NYTimes be driving for compromise? For getting something, anything done that most of us regular people want?
The NYTimes bias is out of control. Shame on you - you were an award winning publication just 20 years ago. Where are you heading?
2
@Ma Did you miss the part that states The Democrats added $2 billion more than last year for border security?
6
@Ma
Most of you "regular people" (54%) oppose the wall.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/support-for-trumps-wall-reaches-all-time-high-poll
Nor did the Democrats "cut [the] budget for our security."
2
@Ma The dems gave more money for overall border security and polls show 60% of people do NOT want money spent on a stupid wall. Read the article next time!
"Assuage the Angry Right"???
Thanks, NYTimes. That's the best laugh I've had all day. Good luck with that, Mr. President. You could also try singing Kumbaya with the neo-nazis.
4
The level of stupidity coming from the WH and the Republicans is mind boggling. The man is a con artist who could not negotiate his way out of a paper bag. To claim that trump is actually fighting 10 rounds is so incredibly delusional. He got the little bit that he did because he’s a terrible negotiator who cannot do the work necessary to govern nor hold any real conviction which to stand for. What a total waste of this country’s time and resources.
14
@Mike
Trump might think he's fighting for 10 rounds, only his proven attention span is over before round 1.
2
The other climate change is coming, and this one can not be denied as 2018 showed the strength of the new blue wave.
Come 2020 another HUGE BLUE democracy loving storm is landing ashore, rushing towards Washington DC, swallowing all climate denying republican Russians, racists and white supremacists empty-headed red-hats into a powerful blue undertow.
Amen.
14
For those who cannot understand how Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter, Dobbs and others seem to control the president's agenda, let me say this - Trump in just simply needy. He needs constant affirmation of how well he's doing, because he's totally unsure of himself as president and feels he's always being judged negatively. Just look at the constant sourpuss face he presents to us and the world.
What he knows about government and its need for compromise here and there could be written on the back of a postage stamp, so he must always look to others for guidance.
As the elite, that he has always craved acceptance from, has continually disdained him for his uncouth, tacky demeanor and shady business practices, he sucks up to the opposite side of the social spectrum for validation. It is our collective nightmare that he now ascended to the national stage, bellowing his anger at those he always felt looked down on him - and they did - and they still do - and they always will.
13
@Anthony Taylor The one good thing he has done is to concentrate the most corrupt of them all into his Administration and Cabinet. Pence first of all, who then handed him the ALEC and Heritage Foundation Approved List of Specifically Corrupted Cronies to be put into specific offices in order to not only try to Starve the beast, but plain slay it from the inside.
Trump's one good deed is to gather the majority of this Nation's Traitors under one flag, in one place, that being his Admin, Cabinet and the Republicans (under control by McConnell) and anything they touch is thus highly suspect of being illegal, corrupt or tied to the Russian Oligarchs and their sanctions. Even McConnell took Russian Money from the NRA, which passed on a goodly amount of it to Right Wing Politicians with a smiling Marina right there.
We have never had a bigger bunch of crooks operating out in the open as if they figured there was no way they could ever be charged for it since the Bush II team. Hmmmm, come to think about it, there is a whole lot of overlap there too, between Trump's Team and the Bush II/Cheney Presidency.
1
trump and his gang of misfits should SHUT UP and govern or atleast make an attempt.. so far he gets an F. he is the WORST potus ever- who looks like a moron every time he tries to say anything. Throw this criminal in jail with his family members.. Ivanka we are going to get you ... Jared go away
10
People, please stop saying Trump got rolled on this (he he he). His conservative base is spinning this that "He Won." So tell them "Absolutely, you won!" (and then maybe he will forget about this completely idiotic idea once and for all).
12
If there were truly a 'national emergency' at the Southern border, FOX News would be there round-the-clock with cameras and hysteria; MSNBC would be, too, with it's cameras and perhaps a counter-narrative, as would CNN. Talk of caravans, OMG, what a joke.
The real national emergency is a news cable channel that amplifies the racism and anxiety of about 10%-20% of the population that goes to rallies for POTUS.
21
What does trump say at 7:00 pm on weekdays?
"Time for my stories."
Trump is like an old 1950s housewife eating bonbons watching soap operas.
8
The Fox News people (Hannity, Dobbs) and others (Coulter, Limbaugh) are the true advisors to Trump. His cabinet and other Whitehouse advisors are just spectators. The Executive Branch of government lead by the most narcissistic and untrustworthy person in America is a farce.
18
Another way to pay for the wall? Hmmm, how about Mexico? This is one Trump is gonna have to live with....
3
Is there a more miserable, selfish, greedy and bigoted segment of society than the far right? A truly awful societal segment.
16
When will this guy finally become someone written about in history books??? I am soooooo tired of his lies, his narcissism, his mouth-foaming "rallies, his greed, his Russia everything, his "cabinet" members (who each do the opposite of the positions' missions) - ok, I am so tired of everything about trump. To much to list.
Please hurray, Mr. Mueller.
9
@Lynn Taylor. (Yeah, I'm so tired of it all that my fingers no longer type properly and my eyes no longer see my typos before I push the "submit" button! So my comment above should say - at least the part I can now see needs correcting - "Too much to list. Please hurry, Mr. Mueller.")
2
@Lynn Taylor
It's okay.
When Mueller uncovers Trump's prosecutable offenses, a big "hurray" will resound across the land.
1
An epic swindle, probably the biggest lie ever told by an American president to his own supporters. And they swallowed it. Now they're regurgitating it. The situation comically reminds one of that cliched saying by Einstein that "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
10
Now that we have established what the “art of the deal” means we have to know what he discusses with foreign leaders behind closed doors, he most likely gives the store away when he says we win. He has such a meeting with Kim Jong Un coming up.
6
He lies and he base believes him. We need to get rid of the Electoral College. All the Electoral College has given us are our worst presidents. If trump were to get re elected again by the Electoral College that would be a travesty.
13
@Nina, I would suggest to you that you should read up on Electoral College a bit more. Read up on the historical *facts*, ( not opinions of others), why it was set up that way. If this Electoral College was not there, because of the dense population in big cities), the. The rural folk, farmers, & small businesses, would virtually have no say whatsoever as to how their state or this country is governed. Chicago would run Illinois, New York City would run New York, etc. This law was established. I think, (but only you know), like the rest of us, you are striving for "fairness", and believe that your theory would work. I, too, thought that way, until I woke up an decided to think for myself, adhere to facts, and facts only. Then, once I researched the 'why' of it all it became clear that a pure popular voting method would Not be fair.
Good luck on your research, you will find it very educational. We disagree on this, bot it's obvious that you care deeply about fairness! Good luck on your research! Research is essential if you truly want an educated mind that can think for itself. God bless you!
3
@Christine suroski, you need to do some additional reading yourself. The Electoral College is based on number of members in congress. So the Electoral College has been getting more & more out of whack ever since they put a cap on the number of Representatives in the House. The Senate was where the protection of the smaller states came in.
@Christine suroski
The Electoral College and the Senate both all but guarantee that a minority of the people can control the country.
It makes no difference where people live. That's a concept that became outmoded a century ago.
You do know that the EC was put in place to insure strong representation for slavery.
It's one country, and as long as there is a winner-take-all system in place, the majority should win.
1
It certainly did educate the public abput the border - the lack of serious problems that is! Both side got an educate on trumpf who can’t negotitate, but we knew that.
2
"Angry Right." Is there a time when the "right" isn't angry?
On being white: regardless of whatever pedigree or history we might have, we are immigrants. It is quite possible that all this bluster is because the majority of the right realize the very color of their skin pegs them as immigrant. Interloper and violent usurper. Our ancestors did horrible unthinkable things. Instead of apologizing and honoring as they should, they just get louder in their fear and ignorance. An epidemic of immature, aggressive thinking that is tearing this country apart. High time for the Congress to show that some adults work there.
But let's not forget that this horror has largely been caused by allowing the minimum wage to fall without it being indexed to the cost of living for many years. If people were getting paid decently, working class families would be a lot less afraid that someone coming in would be taking one of their three badly paid jobs. Corporate America is a horrendous vampire that is sucking the lifeblood from this great country. Trump is just a figurehead of the malaise. My hope is buoyed by the new Congress members who have joined and clearly won't stand for the status quo.
11
I don't care about his base, they have been dominating the national conversation for too long, and to much detriment. They are the minority, and they should see and know their savior king, president as an incompetent in office, like the rest of us do. Let's dust ourselves off, and start to close the heavy door on this, there's real work to be done, and fortunately some members of Congress are motivated by this. Thank you Ms. Pelosi, your strength and wisdom makes it a little bit easier to sleep at night. You have found a way to temper the roar of ineptitude and erroneous stupidity.
15
It is time to turn the corner and stop obsessing about the fictional wall.
1
DO THE MATH:
"$1.375 billion available in December to pay for 55 miles of fencing along the border."
55 Miles x 5,280 feet per mile = 290,400 feet.
$1,375,000,000.00 divided by 290,400 feet = $4734.85 per Foot.
For that kind of money the Secret Service could rent a golf cart for a day at Mar-A-Lago.
6
The big takeaway for me is that Trump's shut down of the government was entirely pointless since he thinks he can get his Wall money from appropriations Congress already made. Completely pointless, just a way to stroke his enormous ego and rev up his racist base.
4
Could someone get me the contact information for James Jay Carafano. I have some aluminum house siding that I'd like to sell him.
1
My high school history teacher maintained that in the right hands, the Speaker of the House was the most powerful position in the federal government. I think we are now witnessing that lesson, though I am sure my teacher did not anticipate that the hands would belong to a woman named Nancy.
12
House Democrats need to make it clear to the Pentagon and other agencies that any funds Trump diverts to the wall will not be replaced in the next round of appropriations. This will ensure that they will resist Trump when he tries to divert funds earmarked for upgrading military housing or money designated for flood control. Trump will have to decide which is more important ... decent housing for troops or a useless wall. Unfortunately, we all know Trump's answer.
7
One of the things that amazes me is how smart the founding fathers were when they wrote the US constitution.
One of the principles was separation of powers. Congress passes the laws. Presidents can try to convince, but forcing Congress doesn't work.
Trump seems to have not understood the limitations that come with separation of powers. When Congress failed to deliver what he wanted, he proudly took ownership of a government shutdown that lasted 35 days and may have cost the US economy $11 billion. In the end, the $1.375 billion he gets for the wall is not far from the deal he had before the shutdown.
A competent cabinet would have helped Trump see that although extreme rhetoric may have helped him win the election, extreme positions are unwinnable. He needed to nudge Republicans to the center, and characterize liberals who argue for open borders as the true extremists.
The problem is that Trump believed his own campaign rhetoric. This is a common mistake for politicians in a democracy. They don't always realize that idealistic positions often don't work. To get solutions that work requires hard work, the devil is in the details.
Trump needed some cabinet official who was a policy wonk, who could get something doable proposed, such as leave illegal immigrants already here alone for the time being, but provide an e-verify that prevents those entering the country illegally after say July 1, 2019 from getting jobs.
But his cabinet has been replaced with sycophants.
5
@Jake Wagner Who has stated that they support "open borders?" That is a strawman contention. There is no one that supports an open border anywhere.
5
@Jake Wagner
The Founders were not all that smart, as one political party can end up controlling everything.
Lets hope Trump doesn't start a needless nuclear war. So far his harm is in health care and a unfortunate tax cut. Lets hope investigations keep him from doing more harm. Aside from trying to cut needless foreign wars, I cannot think of anything worthwhile the President has done while in office.
5
When reading the many readers' comments, it appears that many Americans continue to believe that Trump is (a) a great 'deal maker', (b) a successful businessman, and (c) telling the truth.
P.T. Barnum was right.
13
To all the cynical people who call our government broken, this is why it works. When you have three branches that aren't controlled by one singular force, there is division but also balance. Trump and Russia hate this. If you do too, I suggest you find some time in Moscow
3
@Mixiplix
Great point, Mixiplix. Which is why Trump's idea that he can legally rummage through spending bills passed by congress (you remember them--the separate but equal branch) should bring chills to anyone still counting on the Constitution to save us.
The story downplays the success that just occurred. Congress arrived at a compromise deal that paves a way forward. Instead we read about two sides claiming the other side failed and they somehow won. The Times only quotes the usual suspects at the expense of the vast majority of Congress in order to feed the fire. Of course details of the agreement itself are sorely lacking, as well. Finally, what is so newsworthy about Fox News hosts reciting their stale scripts of hatred, racism and misogyny? Why give them a prominent position on the main stage at the expense of the contents of the agreement itself?
2
Trump hypocrisy is going to be the primary driver for greater support and here is why: Republicans, for generations, told us that raising the national debt was very bad and could result in the nation's failure at some point. However, under Trump, Republicans have for the first time raised the national debt at a record level while the economy was at a robust peak. Hypocrisy seems to be the best way to get unquestionable support. Why, I do not know, but it does. Sorry kids but you will have to pay for our selfishness, or is it our ignorance? Regardless of which, you will have to pay.
3
Sweeping border security plans are the only way to go; not the endless 'chorus' and pipe dream of "I will build a beautiful wall which Mexico will fund"
May more crushing defeats characterize the rest of his term....
7
Uh oh! I better sell my 32’ ladder and tunneling machinery stocks. I thought I would make a fortune.
2
I know that we good progressives are supposed to hear the other side the better to understand its concerns and aspirations for a better America. In this regard, I have tried for years to be a good, tolerant citizen but at this point I absolutely could not care less about what the angry right thinks any more than the angry right cares about my concerns.
The one thing that I do care about is the orchestrated damage to decent governance that the angry right represents. After all, it is the angry, mendacious, seditious right that has given us Trump, the British Brexit, the Hungarians Orban and everybody the endless perfidy of Putin's Russia.
This is what real carnage looks like. Now, I need to try to be better progressive than I am, but I need more inspiring role models in high public office.
9
@John LeBaron
It's my understanding that progressives should be committed to moving things forward, not compromising with those who would hold everything back.
There is no virtue in accommodating to stupidity, greed, and bigotry.
All this money for the Southern border and any to re-unite children and their parents? Can we not let this get get swept under the rug? Can we not constantly simply move on to the next new show?
2
Ms. Pelosi just rewrote "The Art Of The Deal."
She does not use ghost writers. She actually knows what she is doing...and actually does it rather than tweet lies about why she is doing it.
Meanwhile back at Fox,... Hannity is going absolutely bonkers...I love it.
11
To see how low the Right will go to stay in power, just read the daily reports of how they scramble to coddle the toddler in the White House, no matter what he fails at, or how his minions scurry to try to make his unhinged tweets into "policy".
2
You can hear it already...years from now, when it is clear that Trump's wall was just another Trump scam, someone with great authority will announce to whoever is serving in the White House at that time, "Mr. President, tear down this wall."
3
"Instead of Mexico directly paying for a $25 billion, 1,000-mile concrete barrier, as the president once said would happen..." ONCE? You mean thousands of times before he ran into the Democratic House?
5
It sounds like Meadows and that "Freedom Caucus" just want to tax and spend all over the place.
5
Why do Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman ask Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity about their opinions on The Bargain?
They are unelected pawns doing totally unofficial biddings to Don! Who cares what do they think!!
Why don't they interview people whose jobs were eliminated or put on hold during the shutdown -- that would have been entirel y relevant!
Baker and Haberman are getting to the level of supermarket tabloid!
3
@MB. NYT reporters talk to those Fox hosts because their opinions seem to drive the president's policies. They apparently are dictating to the president rather than covering his decisions.
1
Trump will NEVER admit to losing round 1, or any other round. He is an absolutely pathetic negotiator, and he always has been. The only success he has had in the past was when he held all the cards and had the fattest checkbook. He doesn't understand the basics of negotiation or compromise and is easily bested by intelligent, seasoned politicians. He got pummeled in this round and will get pummeled again after he falls for the trap of declaring a national emergency to get his way.
4
He said that nobody knew the system better thsn he did, and that only he could fix it. As it's turned out, no system was ever better designed to baffle a tinhorn tyrant wannabe, and our system is fixing him.
6
I live in Las Vegas where we have a large latino population many of whom came here undocumented or are the children of undocumented parents. Every single one that I know is a loyal, hardworking, honest, decent, generous and friendly person. I'll choose them as my neighbors any day of the week. Give 'em a break!!!
9
The Con Don got the "dreamers" - again.
Only his white, corrupt, stolen/inherited wealth children apparently have a "right" to live in America.
WE THE PEOPLE must put he and his corrupt, Neanderthal brethren under the archaic rock they climbed out from under right now.
Once we get rid of them Speaker Pelosi can take over until elections and put OUR United States of America back on the right track that the vast majority of Americans want - social/financial equity for all, civility, safe public places like streets and schools and and sanity.
NOW is the time.
11
Does it concern in any way that that is NOT, repeat NOT, going to happen? Is the theory here that all Trump’s Congressional supporters and voters will simply evaporate, or is this one of those, “the People’s will, in glorious flood, shall sweep away,” thingies?
The failure of the democrats to fully fund border security and aid the president just sealed the deal on the 2020 election. How ignorant are they? Very!
Just got back from buying coffee at Dunkin' Donuts in Washington Heights where a young officer from Homeland Security stood behind me in line. "How long have you been working for the bad buys?" I asked, wanting to register my dissent. "Three years," he said. A brief discussion followed, but his most telling question was: "You don't think there's any difference between us and them?" No. I don't.
13
Yeah, that’ll win hearts and minds: “How long have you been working for the bad guys?”
There are very, very few times that I have the slightest symoathy for the Right’s blabber about them mean old lefties. This is one of the times.
@Robert
Not nearly mean enough considering that the government's policy is to tear children away from their parents. THAT is mean.
1
@Robert Not nearly mean enough considering that the government's policy is to tear children away from their parents. THAT is mean.
Yes, I noticed that when he was pouting and proclaiming his unhappiness, he did not also cross his arms and then rock back and forth in his chair. Apparently that really IS the "best" he can do.
4
trump's fumbling of the immigration problem has now emerged as the GOP's achilles heel for 2020. The trumped up all consuming fake border security issue (caravans and all) is merely a surrogate for a miserable failure in developing practical immigration policy. The heavy lifting had already been done under Obama where the senate had prepared a comprehensive bipartisan immigration bill and passed it. But Ryan, leading a deliberate GOP obstructionist effort, refused to table the bill in congress. Then when McConnell became leader of the senate he killed it. He tried to do the same with Obamacare, but failed.
Now the immigration travesty that we are left with since is the handiwork of the Joseph Goebbels of senior policy advisors to trump, Stephen Miller. This far-right political activist, erstwhile communications director for Jeff Sessions, is clearly behind the heartless, cruel and unjustified treatment of children at the US border. His evil rhetoric is now manifest in bloody criminal deeds callously perpetrated by the trump administration in plain sight.
20
Yes, details like truth just don't matter.
10
Mr. Trump continues blathering on. His statement that there are “options that most people don’t understand,” tells us that we, the masses, simply can’t grasp the subtle moves of a brilliant politician,
Only you, a Stable Genius, can help us out of this morass, the one you got us into in the first place.
What do the other Stable Geniuses think of your tactics? Oh, for instance, Mr. Ed, or Trigger? They must really be impressed!
Please, for all of our sakes, go back to the stable, hang out with your equine buddies, exchange ideas . . . don’t eat too much hay.
21
@MH
Bravo!
From where I sit, "We're building a big beautiful wall" is starting to sound like "Who stole the strawberries."
10
@Frank Every time that I read a transcript of a Trump interview, The Caine Mutiny comes to mind. All that is needed to complete the picture is a few ball bearings in his hand (or, in Trump's case, a couple of Big Macs).
Well here's a ray of sunshine on this wintry climately-warmed day: Our flag-bearer, our political leader, our erstwhile candidate for POTUS, Hillary, did not lie, did not even stretch so much:
Trump is a puppet.
A hyper-reactive, approval seeking, little ball of lonely and incompetent desperation.
The only thing she (maybe) got wrong is who's puppet he is. It looks more and more like Trump has not had a thought of his own since the very ugly Right shoved their hands up his arm-covering sleeve.
On the other hand (get it...), maybe Hill was just being conservative, naming but a single puppet master.
If you look at that tennis-playing-Trump photo that shows up regularly its pretty clear there's a lot of operating room n there.
8
Giving trump a trillion dollars for a border wall would not stop him, steven miller, the heritage foundation, his cronies, and supporters from being racist.
15
Total biased and Trump hating article as usual. No mention of the Rasmussen 52% approval for Trump. The left just can’t get over the fact that HRC lost the election. Our message to DJT is to get what funds you can out of Congress and then use your executive privilege and get the remainder from other sources. Easily accomplished. Then it’s on to 2020 and another beautiful MAGA win!
5
@Sven Gall Actually what the left cannot get over is that so many Americans do not care about the immorality of the president, from his numerous and constant lies to his total lack of empathy for his fellow Americans to his disinterest in the Constitution to his obvious incoherence and emotional instability. We can't get over how you all don't either see this or care about it.
9
Rasmussen polls are extreme outliers and therefore not relevant. HRC won the popular vote by 2.8 million votes. Tired Republican talking points don't constitute an honest comment.
7
@Sven Gall
Yeah. That's the best negotiator I've ever seen.
He's brilliant and really put Nancy in her place.
I mean, he couldn't even "negotiate" the funds when republicans controlled everything for two years. Must have been part of some five-dimensipnal chess master plan that only Putin's Poodle, trump understands.
It all makes perfect sense now...
3
From the beginning it was evident that trump courted public opinion, sought attention via sleazy (gossip rags) mediums, and peddled his influence on shows like the apprentice. Don’t forget about his caviar wishes and champagne dreams. Would you be surprised to hear if trump attempted to contact robin leach from beyond the grave...seeking his “counsel?” Well, it should not, for he regularly “consults” with the likes of dobbs and hannity...who have their own caviar wishes and champagne dreams. No, never-mind. Caviar and champagne are too good for trump and his classless lot of armchair political hacks. This debacle they are all responsible for is more likely fueled by carp and mad dog 20/20.
5
Trump had to call FOX to get his next set of instructions while Ann Coulter is readying her battery cables.
13
This whole wall thing is deflection of what criminal acts trump is pushing through. To think that any significant amount of the wall could be built with all the necessary eminent domain challengers, environmental studies needed to be conducted before the next democratic president is elected and kills the entire project is not based in reality. I doubt that even contractors can be awarded contracts without challenges in two years.
20
Nancy Pelosi got at TKO. Why would she go 10 rounds if she already won?
19
$9.3 Billion for the EPA?
An outrageous display of pork
2
"“The analogy...is if it’s a 10-round fight, Trump’s fighting 10 rounds. If Pelosi wants to say at the end of Round 1, ‘I won that round,’ Trump’s like, ‘Yeah, maybe, ...’”
Capt. Chaos has been in office 2 long years. If that shutdown only constitutes Round 1 and we've got 9 more events on that scale of stupidity, then I'm not gonna make it.
7
@Jake News He couldln't get his wall funding when he controlled both houses of Congress. Now that he has only one why is this outcome surprising in the least?
3
I disagree with the former aide quoted in the last paragraph. Trump's supporters care less about getting the wall built than they do seeing Trump bend Democrats to his will -- "owning the libs," if you will. In that he failed. He is not the strongman, ultimate dealmaker he claims to be. He's a shortsighted, reckless blowhard, and this episode illustrates this fact. Trump supporters should cut their losses and abandon their loyalty now, before he embarrasses himself and them with further "negotiations."
21
Sadly, mean-spiritedness, anger and a desire to hurt someone, anyone has become the Republican base's only goal. Patriotism? That's for snowflakes.
2
I watched a tv program documenting how Trump needed to be talked out of making Trump Tower an all gold colored building. It would have been hideous and rightly so, the main architect managed to sway him to choosing black. That's Trump for you...man whose brain has nothing to offer but whimsy. Scary thought that many MAGA types have hitched their wagon to this man who will dump them (and has dumped them....ask the soy farmers) in a heartbeat for some gleaming ego-soothing prize (read wall)
11
@Greenfield Really sad in my view is that this troglodyte will probably choose the paint jobs for the two new 747 executive jets.
Quite aside from whatever I feel about Trump, the spectacle of an American president groveling and boot-licking TV and Radio media personalities is disgusting and humiliating for the American people. I am thoroughly embarrassed by Trump's behavior. He lost this fight, and should man up and be a real leader rather than a toady to the alt-Right trolls.
23
@William O, Beeman
He should "be a real leader??" Are you kidding. He sits on Putin's lap like a ventriloquist's dummy, doesn't say a single word at his State of the Union about standing up to Russia's continuing attempts to subvert our democracy, removes the bipartisan sanctions from one of his Russian oligarch masters, all while his core team are put in jail for lying to Congress about the Russian connection, etc etc. He is a traitor, as are any Republicans who continue to support him.
7
all of this is useless.......if the wall is built, it will only be torn down when a Democrat takes over the WH, or before by angry people.......what happened to the Berlin Wall? torn down, right?
5
No wonder most of the cabinet members are gone. Those that remain need to be investigated as co-conspirators.
PROSECUTE RUSSIAGATE!
8
Oh, I keep forgetting.......CONGRATULATIONS to our very first woman President, Nancy Pelosi! Keep up the good work, Mrs. P, you've started out with a bang. You were masterful while also putting the dog out in the cold.
12
@Bigmamou
Speaker Pelosi has far too much compassion to ever put a dog out in the cold.
Trump makes Humpty Dumpty look like a genius.
9
Thank you, Madame Speaker. Best EVER.
Seriously.
79
Donald Trump did the right thing regarding the wall. Drugs are coming into the country on trucks. These trucks should be inspected because drugs are hurting our citizens. Anyone who carries this stuff around is evil.
2
@Sandra J. Amodio
Ps: They are inspecting the trucks.....
and by the way, if Dumpy Trumpie wants more money for his "Great Big Beautiful Wall" he could give up golf, go to work and save hundreds of millions on golf cart rentals to the secret service. OH sorry! I forgot...... that money goes into his own pocket.
19
@Sandra J. Amodio
If Trump is still hooked on cocaine, it's probably coming by boat to Mara Lago.
10
@Sandra J. Amodio
I guess you missed the 75 news reports that keep reporting the fact that most drugs come through legal ports of entry. Not sure how think Trump's wall helps solve this problem.
But I guess it's simpler for you to just say you support the wall, when what you really mean is that you support improved border security.
12
Being honest and reasonable, Trump promised a thirty foot tall, two thousand miles long, built of reenforced concrete, wall that would stop illegal immigration across the border with Mexico, and Mexico would pay for it. That was the promise that he made over and over again at his campaign rallies.
It was never a serious proposal but if he could get it, he would be the ultimate alpha male. He’s been strutting like the guy who owns the government and disrespecting every aspect of the Presidency as it relates to our republic for two years, posing as the autocratic savior of the country without even doing a competent job as an administrator. But he has provided policies and legislation that support plutocracy while undermining liberal democracy. There has never been such a reactionary leader since the nation was created.
The question has been as to when and if Congress would stand up to his silly conduct and promotion of illiberal autocratic governance or just let him out of fear of the third of the country to which Trump is their man. The shutdown was far more damaging than they expected and they saw Trump unwilling to end it despite the harm it was doing. It sobered them up. They might disappoint part of their constituencies but most were going to react badly. So the Congress with the House under Democratic leadership and the Senate under Republican leadership stepped up.
10
@Casual Observer What is most scary is the hordes of people who don't care what a crass simpleton he is and love him for it. The ignorance of these screaming banshees at his rallies is frightening beyond belief.
5
Trump is going to crash headlong into another wall if he starts scrounging appropriated funds. The funds are already appropriated. Congress already decided how the money should be spent. That's their constitutional prerogative as members of Congress. If you want to make enemies fast, go around stealing budgets. I've seen politicians with daggers in their eyes over sums much smaller than $5.7 billion.
The national emergency is even more politically fraught. I understand why the idea appeals to Trump. There's a certain theatrical quality that appeals to Trump's notion of entertainment. However, calling in the military over a border crisis Congress just declared is a non-crisis is political suicide. Congress isn't going along with it and the courts probably won't either.
The idea is even more silly than stealing budgets though because at least you can steal budgets quietly. Republicans can fume and rage against the President privately. If Trump declares an emergency, Mark Meadows and all the others are actually expected go out and publicly defend the President's nonsense. It makes them look bad too. That's why the emergency idea is getting a chilly reception even among the GOP.
If Trump wants to get whopped for another nine rounds, fine. If that's what it takes to make his base feel better about themselves, go for it. Trump has already lost though.
11
The White House called Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity?! Nothing more needs to be said.
19
$1.375 billion on absolutely nothing. Imagine if this money were spent on fixing potholes and infrastructure repair, as Trump has said he allegedly supports. Absolutely shameful.
12
I hate to tell you, many people are saying the only part of "The Art of the Deal" that Trump wrote himself was Chapter 11. SAD!
121
@Hugh Briss that is awesome!
7
@Hugh Briss Excellent!
1
About century ago there was a big hit song that remained popular for decades. Today I hear it echo in the background with every report from right wing authorities; "Yes! We have no bananas".
3
@Kirk Bready
I hear the theme song from "American Greed" whenever the Trump family is mentioned.
6
So much energy wasted on something of so little importance. Trump's theatrics can pass for entertainment. CNN, FOX and MSNBC can/ and are competing with Netflix.
Thank our lucky stars that the economy is humming, and that there is no major geopolitical conflict. Otherwise, we'd all be caught with pants down.
5
What has been lost is the fact that this week the overall U.S. debt this week hit $22 TRILLION dollars. Trump and his fellow Republicans are bankrupting us, just like Regan was able to do to break up the Soviet Union in the 1980’s. Maybe that is the real plan.
9
I still can’t believe Trump didn’t take that $25 billion deal in exchange for the Dreamers. The callousness and lack of compassion in rejecting such a gift deal was just astounding!
11
There are only three possible outcomes for the "Trump vs the fence bill"... 1. Sign the bill and catch the wrath of Hannity, Coulter, and his other political advisors... 2. Veto the bill and become the author of the second great shutdown of 2019; making him two for two... 3. Veto the bill and then have the veto overridden by Congress meaning over 60% of the elected officials in America don't agree with his policies.
Knowing this, why, starting with his trip to El Paso, did he claim all week that he didn't know if he would sign the bill? Could it be he enjoys seeing over a million American government employees and contractors squirm and wonder if they are about to have to endure another 7 weeks without pay? He could have said, "I'll sign the bill and finish the wall with plan B", and allow these hardworking Americans to sleep at night. But what would be the fun in that for our self-centered, sadistic president?
6
@Mark
It's all about building suspense, as he learned to do in his reality TV career. Will he or won't he sign the bill? Who gets fired, who gets the rose? His main priority has always been correctly "staging" his presidency and keeping himself in the spotlight as the star.
The "Right" is angry?
How can you tell?
That's just what they normally sound like.
13
Building a wall was not Trump's "signature campaign promise," per the opening sentence here. Building a wall and having Mexico pay for it was.
132
The "angry right" should shut up and go away instead of holding America hostage to lies and bigotry. The wall has been a fake issue from the beginning when it was a memory aide for tRump at rallies and as many have pointed out could have been "achieved" in the 1st two years if it were actually a priority rather than a tool to sow division.
27
Trump won. Now, thanks to liberal media, everyone has heard many times that Democrats consider 100,000 or so persons entering the US illegally each year acceptable. They have heard that many Democrats want open borders. Next election citizens who can vote will remember.
3
@Richard Winchester...Illegal immigration into the U.S. was at a 40 year low when Obama left office. So go ahead if you don't like the facts, make something up.
12
I agree. But the spin will be if a hundred thousand is OK, why do we need TSA? No US plane has been hijacked in years.
The right wing is angry about the Wall? When are ever not angry about something?
23
@Brett They should be angry that they are paying for it instead of Mexico as was promised to them by dear Leader.
2
@Margo Channing
Yet, that fact doesn't seem to bother them at all. I never understood why they're perfectly OK with letting Mexico off the hook. So much for being fiscal conservatives.
Poor Trump: he must get so tired from all this winning.
17
Good grief. You have got to love the Heritage foundation. Oh but Trump is fighting ten rounds. Happy Valentine's day Jay! I'll tell you what. Just declare a TKO and throw the towel.
3
What angry right? The headline says’ Aids Try to Aauage an Angry Right”. Yet no where in the article do we have single instance of an angry right. This is a headline of hope from the left. That Trump is losing voters. I am a Trump supporter and I am fine with a billion for the wall. I am happy about it.
I am very angry we have spent a trillion in Afghanistan though.
2
@Jim I think they meant “angry talking heads at Fox,” since that is who the WH staff are apparently trying to assuage.
Sincere question: You okay with those entertainers determining our national policies?
11
@Jim
Are you happy that after putting the country through a 5 week federal government shutdown, Trump wound up with a couple hundred million less for the wall than he would have had before subjecting the country to the shutdown?
8
Read Mark Meadows comments. Read the Heritage Foundations comments. They are angry about the deal. They think it’s terrible. They aren’t angry at Trump. He is “assuaging” them into accepting that he needs to sign it. And his “assuaging “ is working.
The headline isn’t misleading or wrong. It’s an accurate reflection of Trump’s political circumstance.
7
Every time Trump refuses to heed warnings from advisors, aides, family members, and friends, we can remind ourselves that Trump doesn’t read books and repeatedly declares that he can counsel himself. If he had read Henry Vaughn’s 1655 poem "The Garland," he might possibly have reflected on, and learned from, these verses:
"[…] Hark, and make use of this ensuing story.
When first my youthful, sinful age
Grew master of my ways,
Appointing Error for my Page,
And Darkness for my days;
I flung away, and with full cry
Of wild affections, rid
In post for pleasures, bent to try
All gamesters that would bid.
I play'd with fire, did counsel spurn,
Made life my common stake;
But never thought that fire would burn,
Or that a soul could ache. […]"
https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/garland-0.
It’s no wonder various photos of Trump these days (like the one accompanying this article) seem to suggest that his soul is aching.
4
He is now an end-of-days minister — the day after. Time to go home everyone.
2
Mark Meadows calling Congress “dysfunctional”, now that’s rich.
16
@Gabbyboy Yup. It appears they’re exceedingly functional.
3
Just a thought for a new approach to immigration concerns:
Enact legislation encouraging those working under the table to report themselves. They get to stay, are put on the path to citizenship, and start paying into the system. But their employers get deported.
8
@Terry - Employers deported? That *does* include Trump.
6
There have been a number of people, myself included, who have remarked on Trump's deference to, taking orders from, and generally being guided by right-wing talk show hosts and commentators such as Coulter, Hannity, and Limbaugh.
However, as if that is not frightening enough, it occurred to me that what is even more frightening is that these unelected people believe that the President of the United States, elected by the people (however flawed the process is) is answerable to them. Personally. Not to the American people for who the president works and is answerable to, but to them.
From the way they speak the people seem to believe that is it right that they guide and control the president, and if the president doesn't heal and toe the line as they demand, then the president will suffer their retribution. They are making the president answerable to them, not us. That is frightening.
They have every right to comment and complain about what goes on in the government and offer their advice in editorials. But these unelected talking media types have no right to threaten or expect that the president do as they wish over the American people or the high hubris that they speak for all the American people - or at least the ones that count.
15
@Marie Trump is truly very weak.....this only proves it.
2
Trump's strategy on the wall amounts to saying, "if you don't give me what I want, I am closing down the government." What if Obama and the Democrats had done this back in 2009 when the Affordable Care Act was being debated? This is not an acceptable way to govern. If you don't have the votes, you have to compromise, or even accept defeat. Perhaps this whole episode will make that clear to Trump, but at what a price to the country!
13
So here we are trying to convince and explain to this president why his kids can go without the Ferrari he promised them and make do with a more practical Road Rover because monies are needed for the highways and infrastructures that these cars actually are driven one.
Just think what almost $2 billion could do toward that end.
Bridges need repairing and roads need at least repaving and he's concerned about an unnecessary wall to keep out those people trying to flee violence in their own towns and country with almost nothing but the clothing on their backs.
What a guy.
12
A wall is facade but immigration policy needs to be seriously addressed. Start by giving graduate and doctoral graduates option to obtain green cards upon graduation. Stop the DV program. Put restrictions on Chinese and Indian consultants that gobble away all the annual allocated H1B visas. Penalize companies that hire foreign workers for far less wages in professional jobs because that wage is not enough for Americans students that have huge student loan debt. Republicans are concerned about the working class people that feel their job is taken away by low wage foreign workers while ignoring the young college graduates who are home looking for jobs.
6
@LAN You offer viable solutions that deserve to be part of an earnest discussion on the topic. One could also argue that the GOP is only into optics and using their threat of “brown skinned people” to ignite their base so that they can maintain power.
6
@S, yes agreed. Both sides have failed to work on a good immigration policy. GOP is focused on pleasing their base, no wonder they are pushing more and more young fresh graduates away. Both the democrats and republicans should be blamed for not addressing the real issue affecting this young generation.
In a few months Democrats will be questioned often about why they approved spending a huge amount of money for walls when Obama was President but would not approve a far smaller outlay to improve border security and fill in gaps in the wall now that Trump is President. Pelosi will also have to reveal her secret plan that involves new physical barriers. If you play chess you understand the concept of giving up something as Trump is claimed to have done, to gain much more in the end.
1
@Richard Winchester...."Build the Wall" is a chant offered at Trump's campaign rallies. It has nothing to do with border security but rather is red meat for his base; permission to express their xenophobia and racism. Real Americans don't build monuments to hatred. Time to stop pretending you don't know what "build the wall" really means.
5
I suppose the platitude that ‘when the president wins, the country wins’ has finally been put to rest with this unceremonious failure of his. Though I suspect that the assumption behind it is an earnest love of country for which I’d suspect the current occupant, judging purely by his actions while in office and campaigning, to be wholly incapable of.
3
Last summer, the great negotiator gave up 25 million $. In December he gave up slightly more than is being forced on him now.
Will his supporters believe the newest alternative fact: that is is a great deal?
2
@Chrisc
Yes. Read the comments here from his supporters. According to them, trump is playing a fabulous game of chess - giving up something now, to gain much more in the end. Yeah.
It’s sad.
3
It is time to move on to more important matters of governance. The endless focus on a wall has put off the pressing need for addressing infrastructure deficiencies of our nation.
7
Mark Meadows definitely knows about a dysfunctional Congress, the Freedom Caucus is a major cause of it. If it wqasn't for the NC gerrymandering Meadows would not have been elected.
9
“I think he handled it as well as anybody could handle it, given a dysfunctional Congress,” Mr. Meadows told reporters.
So was Congress dysfunctional for the first two years of his presidency when the Republicans controlled both houses? Or were they so busy giving tax breaks to millionaires, billionaires and corporations that the border wall wasn't a big emergency then?
13
An “angry right?” Perhaps they are angered by their growing realization that they and Trump have never gotten the support of anywhere near a majority of Americans.
Are they angered because they can’t achieve majority approval for their marginal ideas, or are they angry because they supported a man who was supposed to be able to “market” their extremist views more successfully, but then couldn’t?
Either or both, but still even political hacks must realize that you have to espouse ideas that have at least a tenuous connection to the truth. Their surprise at failing in this endeavor speaks to how far we’ve fallen.
4
$1.37B. Maybe buys a nice 1,000 mile shrubbery hedge. Azaleas would look nice.
8
Blackberries, raspberries, and roses would be nice, too, and they have further deterrents of thorns. So...win-win?
Really tough when you try to placate a minority against the will of a growing majority. Especially when your only negotiating tactic is to demand and not compromise. So much for being the 'greatest negotiator', this was only 'true' on 'reality TV'.
Can't believe some people really believe 'reality TV' is true.
2
Even if DJT gets more funding for the wall, hopefully he will be long out of office before most of the work can be done.
Let us hope that the departure of this toxic man is accelerated by the rational conservatives in his party.
The country is suffering irreparable damage the longer he "leads" us.
3
The cold, hard reality is that for all of Donald Trump's puffery, boastfulness and hot air, his failure to deliver on his promises about the wall are just another example of a long history of failure. There is no amount of spinning that can hide the fact that he didn't get Mexico to pay for a wall, nor did he convince Congress to pay for one. Some negotiator.
Coming soon to a bookstore to you: "The Art of the Cave," by Donald J. Trump. Maybe the Neaderthals will pay for it.
5
I would very much like to know who is making money on this wall building and who will gain on this project that nobody wants. How much might be funneling back to the President who makes a ton of money outside of his salary. I think he's robbing us blind.
4
Just look at who got the jobs when Democrats approved huge expenditures for the wall when Obama was President. Check what those contractors contributed to political campaigns. It will probably be the same contractors and they will support the politicians that vote for improvements to border security.
"Even so, it was arguably the most punishing defeat Mr. Trump has experienced as president...."
Gee, I don't see any mention in this piece of fiction of Pelosi and Schumer declaring "No money for a wall...Zero!"
But lo and behold, now there is $1.37B to construct a "barrier" AND no big concessions on beds either. (if the Left wishes not to refer to this as a wall, fine, if it makes them feel better. Call it a barrier, fence, whatever - at the end of the day, it's still a valid method intended to divert those who wish to enter our country to one of the legal crossing locations)
So to go from "NO!!, NO WAY" to "Um..ok we will give you some money towards your wall" is much more of a "punishing defeat" than asking for a specific sum and then accepting (If our President actually signs this deal) a lesser sum to insure the government continues on without disruption. That is called "negotiation"
So, while not the deal our President wanted - he was able to secure a portion of the funding he needs for our border security, did not relent regarding detainee beds and shows how the Dems caved on this.
1
@DB He secured 55 miles. No concrete. I doubt that Mexico or El Chapo will be shelling out for this. LOL
1
@Douglas Butler
Ok, 55 miles and no concrete.
My point is the same - Pelosi/Dems said NOOOO! and now there is funding for a wall/barrier/fence.
So even though its not fully what our President wanted - That "NO" became a "Yes"
Our President/Republicans negotiated to insure they secured funding for border security and made sure our government was not held hostage again by the Dems.
Dems caved, pure and simple.
Although you'd never know it by this article. No mention about Pelosi/Dems firmly stating 'NO"
@DB
Dems have never been against barrier fencing where it made sense, they've supported and pushed for it in the past. They're also not for open borders as Republicans charge. Speaker Pelosi said no to even a dollar for the wall while the govt. was shut down but promised negotiators would work in good faith on a compromise once it was opened. That happened and that's a good thing.
One must wonder just how out of touch he and his base are to think that they are going to get everything they want. And that by telling such obvious lies to undergird your arguments, that you will in the end fail because as gullible as the American people are apparently, considering the past few years, there are limits to what they are willing to put up with in terms of bullying, lying, bigotry, and betrayal of the principles on which this nation was founded, as flawed as those people were who put it together. They at least were looking forward to making this nation better as it went about making history. Trump and his minions only seems to want to destroy what those founders started and hoped this nation would blossom into. Putin should be proud.
Trump actually got LESS than he was offered before holding the country hostage for 35 days. The Great Negotiator.
Meanwhile, the third of the country eager to turn the clock back a century is angry that they didn’t get the useless, expensive monument to racism they’d been promised.
So much winning.
4
In the accompanying photo it struck me that the most important people in the photo are the Marines. Presidents come and go, but a United States Marine is for life. I return your salute.
2
"At one point last year,. . . . .he would get all $25 billion for the wall in exchange for .......... Mr. Trump ultimately turned away because he also wanted cuts to legal immigration"
In SOTU he now says he is for an increase in legal immigration. So the great deal maker is about as accomplished as Cliff Barnes was with J.R. Ewing.
1
Not one of Mr. Trump's own handpicked national security advisors named the southern border as a crisis or an emergency. We need comprehensive immigration reform (as was proposed in 2013) that addresses all aspects of the issue. Not this glib campaign slogan masquerading as policy. This has been a ridiculous spectacle.
5
When is Trump going to represent US and not just his BASE. I'm so tired of calls he's make to people like Hannity who only a high school education without any journalistic credentials, and yet a know it all attitude.
After thousands of lies, daily destruction of our beautiful parks (like Joshua Tree) during Trump's shut-down, and ignoring climate change, when is America going to say ENOUGH of this destructive spirit.
1
@Tim B
"When is Trump going to represent US and not just his BASE."
The answer is simple. NEVER. He is incapable of understanding that he is the president of all Americans and not just the ones who idolize him. That's why he only visits places where people already like him. A real leader would be reaching out to areas where he's not popular to build bridges.
i continue to believe that one big overlooked aspect of the "wall" furor is that its only a smoke screen to divert attention from the real problem facing the president and that is collusion with the russians.
3
Please, please, please let him veto the compromise and shut down the government for a second time, thereby putting the last nail in the coffin of this presidency. Let him finally learn that running the country is not the same thing as running a family real estate company/crime syndicate.
3
Let Mexico pay for the rest. That is what was promised, time and again. We're waiting to see that check arrive.
1
Not sure the right is all that angry, I'm not. I like compromise, and $ 1.37 billion is a whole lot more than the zero that Pelosi promised he would get. Additionally 55 miles of border security is 55 miles less that the Mexican cartels control.
With an unemployment rate of under 4% wages should start rising steeply for all sectors of the economy, including the left behind white blue collar workforce. Why haven't they?
11
@Paul Langland
Largely because most of those "blue collar" workers have atrophied skill sets that are not in demand.
Some seem to want to blame "society" for the lack of jobs. But the underlying issue is, that through their own inaction, that they do not have the sought after skills needed for higher paying jobs.
3
Wages SHOULD have started rising with Trump’s “tax breaks” based on that old trickle-down theory. But they didn’t and never have. Attacking education and reducing subsidies to universities will certainly move us further and further back in international relations. Blue collar workers will get pushed deeper into the lower class until all that remains are 1%ers and the rest of us fighting over scraps...if you continue to support Trumpists
2
Let’s all applaud rapturously the most recent victory of our dear leader, who once again got the better of the leftist socialist dogs by getting them to agree to spend $1.37 billion on a glorious barrier, which is infinitely more than the zero dollars the lying, witch-hunting cowards had originally vowed to give him.
As our beloved father explains, the money will be more than enough to put the last few finishing touches on our wall, since he knows of ways to secure the rest. He’s gently spared us the complex details, of course, since they are, as always, well above our baseborn heads.
26
Hey Mr. Deal Maker bar none, you promised your sheeple that Mexico would pay for your "beautiful wall" with a "beautiful door". Your fans await the news that Mexico will indeed pay for it. Instead of looking to rob Peter to pay Paul for your wall deal with the Mexican government. Maybe you can get some of El Chapo's ill gotten gains to pay for it. Stunning defeat indeed. Your book should have been called the Art of the Con.
20
Humpty Trumpty sat on his wall,
Humpty Trumpty had a great fall,
All of his base,
With looks on their face
Astonished they had no prince at all.
20
Above all Trump craves publicity.....and this article gives him publicity. Trump is a serious fool....so why give his positions serious analysis.
23
Can the "Angry Right" go form their own country called "WhiteLandia" and leave the rest of us alone?
20
Sad. trump supporters are confused. they thought the guy on the reality show was real. They thought that the hate and racism they have saved up for years would have a voice. They thought they could ignore their personal failures and their feelings of inadequate prestige would be solved. They bought the hats and t-shirts. They screamed Lock Her Up! They got to wait in line for a new kind of Circus where they can push and shove reporters! But wait. Their guy is a known loser, a poor business man, a bloated ego of ugly who has bankrupted every business he has owned and laundered Russian money for years. Oops. Maybe hating your neighbor is not such a good idea. Well, at trump got his $50,000 golf simulator with their TAX money. At least there is that.
35
@lulu roche
Somehow reading your comment made me think of that wonderful little story that Oscar Wilde wrote, that one about the painting in the attic.
Yes The Picture of Dorian Gray captures the true essence of the man in the White House. And his followers.
2
These people are not conservative in any way. They are radicles- right wing radicles.
10
Nice work, Maggie and Peter. Here is the British profile of Trump: He has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honor and no grace - all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing - not once, ever. Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.
And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults - he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.
And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things: a bully.
That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a sniveling sidekick instead.
God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.
56
@Cav---Thank you for your comment....you are correct on all points. Trump and his followers have made a mockery of all of us in our country and in the larger world community.
2
@Cav Saving a screen shot of this. Nicely done!
1
@Cav
\
in fact we should start a national movement t really get under his skin: IGNORE HIM
it will absolutely kill the infant poseur
he is worthless
his "thought" and utterances are worthless
he has no leadership skills
he hates
enough yet?
Hannity, Ingram, Coulter and Limbaugh do not represent me. They never will. They are not smart enough; they are too hostile, divisive and radical; their points of view are absurd and, most important, THEY LIE like thieves.
These fake Conservative evangelists live for fame and face time. They make millions on the backs of their "fans" and do this country no good, just like their boss Comrade Trump and his boss, Comrade Putin.
I fail to understand why anyone who still has functioning neurons would let them lead him/her down the rabbit hole of national disgrace and failure.
Trump's wall is a prop - it's a metaphor for racism, prejudice and public and political laziness. "Let's blame someone else for our problems" instead of solving them. How easy it is to do this - the Nazis targeted all minorities, Trump targets people of color and anyone who disagrees with him.
There is no money for worthless metaphors and narcissistic sociopaths. The "disenfranchised" will become much more so under Trump and his cabal of thieves - blaming it on immigrants makes no sense and is not true. Our soon-to-be second class citizens will not be those that have crossed our borders but those who live within them.
29
It would be nice if the angry right would assign its outrage to something that matters like Russian election interference, wealth disparity, or our fouled environment. No, their biggest outrages have been about Hillary Clinton's server, the treatment of useful idiots like Carter Page and the Affordable Care Act. While major problems go unsolved, it's good to know that the President and the numbskulls in the Freedom Caucus will be fighting 10 rounds for a silly wall.
19
If the old liar does sign the bill, when does he get that $1.37 billion back from Mexico as he promised his Mensa member base?
14
@Victorious Yankee: Is there a right wing counterpart to Mensa called Densa? There ought to be.
I wonder if the dimwit even realizes that this has nothing to do with the money, and everything to do with the childish idiocy of both the wall and the person egotistically demanding it.
14
It is time for the majority in this country to regain control and for the so called right to fade into the sunset. They never were in a majority; but, gained a position of power with the acquiescence of the GOP leadership that considered these "useful idiots" useful. Then the GOP lost control of them. The teabaggers gained center stage with the supportive efforts of FOX. Maybe it took a trump to wake the country up. But it has, and hopefully will continue to exert itself and get the ship of state back on a more even keel. There is so much to be done, that has been held back due to the fears and uncertainty stoked by the GOP grifters for short term and personal gains, at the expense of this country's well being. We have so many urgent matters to address, climate change, revitalizing infrastructure, universal health care, immigrant reform, repairing our international relationships, and the list goes on. We cannot afford to let the willful ignorance that has pervaded our government to continue. Yes, the workplace is changing. The Composition of our society is changing. Competition for finite resources is increasing around the globe with the unsustainable growth of humanity, Stoking fear, uncertainty and bigotry over these matters solves nothing. We cannot retreat into a shell. We must face the issues head on and resolve them. Together we can do that. Separately we can flounder and no mythical rapture will save us.
13
"Build The Wall" was just a crowd chant at Trump's rallies, like "Lock Her Up" or "Drain The Swamp".
In Trump's mind, it was never a political promise.
It was just part of the entertainment, so that the crowds would keep showing up and cheer him.
When he first began his campaign, he had small crowd turnout. For the crowds to show up in large numbers, and to keep showing up in large numbers, they needed to have an entertaining experience - like going to a professional wrestling match.
And so the rallies were all geared towards entertainment.
That's what the crowds wanted, and that's what Trump tried to give them.
All the chants, all the rhetoric, all the stunts, everything that Trump did and said - was all for what the crowds wanted to hear.
If the crowds were entertained, they would keep showing up and cheering.
Whatever was coming out of Trump's mouth, was of absolutely no importance to Trump.
He would forget all about it as soon as the rally was over.
He was only there for the adulation and cheers of the adoring crowds. (and to make a little money selling hats.)
The problems arose, when he accidentally won the election.
A lot of voters really did hate Hillary.
And that is how we got to where we are today.
42
President Trump, his aides and advisers sicken me. They are all so worried about how he will look because he did not get his precious wall. Are any of these people concerned about the effects of the recent government shutdown? Total border security, not just a wall, is the issue to be discussed and resolved here. And the solution is not just the wall the President wants. Maybe one day before the President leaves office he, his aides and advisers will realize he is the President of the entire United States, not just for the President's base. National security, infrastructure, health care, veterans issues, the polarization of our country and school matters are just a few of the many issues that the President, his aides and advisers should really be worried about doing something about and how Mr. Trump will be viewed if they are left undone. Start doing some real work and stop coddling the manchild in the Oval Office.
27
The president turned down $25 billion last year for his wall that would give legal protection to 1.8 million DACA immigrants only because he wants to cut legal immigration. Meanwhile the CDC states that Americans are not having enough babies. Even teenagers are no longer having kids like they used to. We need to have a certain amount of babies so our mean population age won't get anywhere like Japan. That would mean less people working and paying taxes. We see the national debt is now over $22 trillion. Trump also cut taxes permanently on corporations and gave a sugar high tax deduction to Americans. The only sure way to be able to pay down our debt is to allow people to immigrate here legally. That is what Japan refuses to do and one reason why China became the 2nd world's largest economy.
18
To Wayne I say AMEN!
“I think he handled it as well as anybody could handle it, given a dysfunctional Congress,” Mr. Meadows told reporters."
No Mr. Meadows: We actually, beginning this year, have a quite "functional" Congress. Thank you. You should try reading the Constitution!
27
"One call was made to Lou Dobbs, a favorite of Mr. Trump’s whose Fox Business Network show he often tries to catch live. Another was placed to Sean Hannity, the Fox host who regularly talks with the president."
That the President seeks counsel from TV show hosts is worrying enough but it's deeply concerning that these people are shameless Fox News propagandists who don't even pretend to be anything other than bigoted corporatists. .
32
Here is what the president has been successful at doing: focusing all our attention on immigration and a non-sensical solution to it rather than the dozens of other formidable problems facing our country- eroding infrastructure, money in politics, income inequality, poor healthcare system, massive commitment to military dominance no matter the trade offs.
It's appalling that as a nation we focus on the wrong things. This is what ruins countries.
26
This bill's passing was just a small 'nothing burger'. It avoided a second partial government shutdown, that shouldn't have ever been on the table from the beginning. Dems gave a few bucks for more immigration beds and a little money for some barrier fencing. Repubs traded this for letting the wall funding diversion pass into oblivion and trying to avoid being held responsible for another shutdown. Oh yawn. No new ideas for a comprehensive, larger immigration bill, avoided any decision on DACA, didn't address immigration levels, no provision for enacting e-verify for employers. If this is everyone's idea that the two sides are now miraculously going to join together singing kumbaya while negotiating important issues...like infrastructure, advancing educational programs, comprehensive immigration reform and a real path to combating climate change......think again. Let's see how a serious issue is negotiated before we start handing out the little sticky gold stars.
8
2 years controlling all branches of govt, and he couldn’t get his wall. Why? Obviously Republicans don’t really want it either, unsurprising since only a minority of their constituents want a wall. They passed tax laws to favor themselves and their cronies fast enough, though. Anybody see a cleaner swamp?
20
I'm picturing a wall. A wall with booths, with people in the booths, facing Mexico. The people in the booths are there because of their achievement of turning a metaphor from a xenophobic campaign strategy into a shutdown that hurt millions of people through furlough, work without pay, or disruption of necessary services.
It will be effective in the areas with booths. People will come up from the south, and in those areas, they'll decide to turn back after looking at a sneering Hannity, or listening to an angry Coulter, or looking at a collection of "Freedom" Caucus members, all angry (especially because the list of their positive accomplishments will be there in Spanish under their names - "nada"). Yes, the would-be border crossers might turn back and think about it some more.
Build a wall of the angry far right. Then maybe Congress, with obstacles removed, can do its job and work out immigration law reform.
2
Democrats passed a Universal Health care plan and payed for the appropriation with modest tax increases.
The "Conservative" Liberty caucus has supported dramatic increases in military spending including a new arms race on intermediate nuclear weapons and demanded a huge wall be appropriated while not only refusing to pay for the appropriation, they actually cut taxes that pay for appropriations.
These are the same lunatics who support a balanced budget amendment.
Trump and the Liberty caucus are intentionally trying to bankrupt the United States government. They must be replaced.
It's time to tear down the wall of ignorance the Liberty caucus and Donald Trump built.
12
First two years of his administration with a GOP majority Congress, and no wall funded. Now let's blame the Democrats.
40
The simple fact is that the agreement represents a genuine compromise. Those on the far right will be unhappy that they didn't get the money for an entire wall and those on the far left will be unhappy because they didn't want Trump to get a dollar for a barrier. The only reason both sides compromised is they sensed that all incumbents (namely themselves) would be blamed for a second government shutdown and would be primaried. It would be nice if this compromise served as a template for further compromise so the nation's business could be addressed. Don't hold your breath.
7
If his wall were done, then what ? Donald needs the wall as a set piece, along with his new mantra railing against Socialism, as shiny objects to deflect the eyes off the facts: manufacturing jobs are not returning, health care is not improving and the new tax law was mostly a wash for middle and low income persons in Red states and deleterious to many in Blue states.
17
U.S. employers (including Trump) take advantage of illegal immigrants by paying them below-market wages, no social protections such as Worker's Comp., disability insurance or unemployment insurance; they live every day looking over their shoulders. These people look at that terrible choice and still see it as a foothold to a better life. You can't blame a mother/father for seeking a better life for their children when there is a known market for their work in the U.S.; but you can blame greedy, law breaking employers for breaking the law and hiring them in the first place. How about investing Trump's 25+ billion to seek out and punish these employers? It really seems that is the root of the problem.
19
One could argue that the midterm elections were Trump's first "punishing defeat" and his wall fiasco comes next. Americans are rejecting Trump's racist policies and rhetoric. Bill Shine had to call Faux Fox News. Nobody else? Apparently not as Trump's base shrinks. Trump as savior, fighter, negotiator whatever he wants to call himself today is a fiction only the cult believes.
Time for Congress to get to work and stop Trump even further.
The deregulation of polluting chemicals needs to be checked. Gun regulation. Health care. It's time to talk about the Democratic agenda. Of course this will bring terror into the hearts of the GOP and the Senate will act like Mitch and hide in their shell but let's get started and put the policies out there. Policies that the American people actually care about and would help them.
Trump could be ignored totally except for his tweets which he will inflict on us daily.
7
Actually we already have Trump’s wall — it’s our wall of debt caused by his awful fiscal policies, including his huge tax cuts for the wealthy last year. None of it will be paid for by Mexico.
20
The message to Fox and Friends: "Mr. Trump deserved support because he still forced concessions that he would never have gotten without a five-week partial government shutdown."
That's funny. That's rich. When the GOP owned the whole federal government, Trump supposedly had LESS leverage than after he scotched a deal giving more for "Wall" and less concessions prior to the new Dem House taking power? A shutdown he owned, and that most Americans rightly blamed Republicans for, forced concessions from Democrats? But then, Trump supporters seem to swallow anything if it comes out of his mouth, so...
"Mr. Trump’s inability to reach a satisfying deal despite the negotiating experience he regularly touted on the campaign trail suggested that any aspirations of collaboration across party lines may be even more elusive than he had imagined."
Is that paragraph supposed to be somehow sarcastic? When has Trump himself actually negotiated anything in two years as POTUS? One may want to call what is essentially extortion (tariff wars, shutdowns, mean tweets including threats) "negotiating", but I think not. Making a demand, then going around the other side by reneging on a deal, or finding alternate methods (some illegal, or nearly so) of getting that demand, is not negotiating. This isn't so much a failure of collaboration between the parties as it is a failure by Trump of temper tantrums and moving goalposts as negotiating tactics.
The USA isn't your family business, Trump.
17
What trump fails to understand is that Speaker Pelosi is prepared to go 11 rounds in a 10-round fight.
20
So the Republican Congress did not give a dime to Trump. Dems give, how much? $2 billion? And this is supposed to be "victory" for Dems? Why did I vote for them? I am thinking voting Trump in 2020, because Dems don't deserve my vote.
@Har Keep your powder dry my friend. Trump with no border money gets to go on a rant about how the DEMS DENIED him. No he has to admit he signed the deal. He will still use the wall in 2020, have no fear. I am glad that some money was provided to blunt his rant. And maybe some more walls will be helpful - they won't get built if not anyway. Let's all move on, and please share what about the GOP platform is attractive to you in lieu of the wall fight? Maybe the further destruction of the ACA and more tax cuts for the rich? Have at it.
1
If Meadows says congress is dysfunctional, it is because of representatives like him, who only have their personal agenda as a priority and counter every effort to enact legislation for the benefit of all.
He is, sadly, my representative. He is a disaster for our scenic, but stepchild part of N.C. His ambition to be speaker of the house is his agenda, a post for which he is totally unqualified.
10
This wall is just a red herring, Trump likely has 100's of undocumented folks working for him. Heck, he very likely married one. Big companies love cheap labor.
I'd like to see unskilled and semi-skilled workers paid a lot more, this increase should be a Democratic issue. Why not take all the DARE and drug police and turn them on the real problem the people and businesses that hire undocumented workers. Imagine if the asset forfeiture laws that were used in the "War on Drugs" were applied to this issue.
I want to throw-up when I hear jobs Americans won't do what a HORRIBLE message to send. We need other folks to come take of us because we are too lazy, really?
5
Beyond his 'usual' racist motivation and the pleasure he takes at feeding his base's inarticulable 'frenzies,' I think trump's ultimate, build-a-wall fixation is fueled by some agreements-in-(absence of)-principle with the several wall 'prototypers' that would provide an agent's fee as well as a kickback 'fee' to trump org., payable by each and every 'prototyper' eventually awarded any contract to build or otherwise aid in the construction of a southern border wall, or any part 'thereof.'
Of course, trump … "Mr. NDA" … will have all concerned execute non-disclosure agreements -- including, as witnesses, every person 'on' the White House staff. (And it is rumored that enforcement of the NDAs -- and punishments in the event of any breach -- is to be 'handled' by agents of Vladimir Putin ... making the 'prospect' of any breach quite unlikely.)
7
Two takeaways from this article.
1) Fox "News" should really be called PRAVDA. "One call was made to Lou Dobbs, a favorite of Mr. Trump’s whose Fox Business Network show he often tries to catch live. Another was placed to Sean Hannity, the Fox host who regularly talks with the president."
Any questions about that?
2) We know #1 is true, because the President lied (as usual) when he said Mexico would pay for his little wall. But I don't hear his official propaganda station telling his base that he lied to them. In fact, he lied to all of us, but since the President only talks to people he thinks might support him, he doesn't care what the rest of us think. A majority of Americans simple doesn't exist in his mind.
Not Our President.
17
This article is why people are tired of the media, especially the liberal main stream. You can't just report the news you have to editorialize everything you write. Terms like, "punishing defeat", "negotiating experience he touted on the campaign trail", plus the whole tone of the article. I get it, you hate the President and will try to disparage him at every turn of events. In reality it doesn't hurt Mr. Trump or his supporters. We understand the hatred and the fact that you can't get passed the last election, but in the end it just tarnishes this news paper. My grand father, many years ago before plastic garbage bags, opined that today's news paper is what we wrap our garbage in tomorrow.
1
@Fred Gee Fred, forget about the last election. We have.
We're focussing on the lies and corruption of yesterday, and the day before. And we are watching a level of gross incompetence "like you wouldn't believe."
2
@Fred
If you are tired of it, why are you reading and commenting on it?
I would say settling for $1.375 billion in taxpayer money, when you were offered $25 billion a few months ago, after you promised you would actually raise the funding from Mexico and not involve the US taxpayer at all, counts as a defeat. In fact a "punishing defeat." And it is Mark Meadows of the "Freedom Caucus" who would agree the most. The NYT is merely reporting what Meadows and Dobbs and Hannity and Coulter said. Sorry that this annoys you so much.
1
At last, Congress stands up to Trump’s recalcitrance and makes him compromise. It’s a lesson to people like Hannity, Coulter, and Limbaugh that the President is not a dictator who can govern as he wishes, as they wish. Frustrating for them living in a liberal democracy, these reactionaries really don’t like to have to compromise.
4
trump has other places that he can go to get funding for his monument wall. He's probably going to try to sell Ukraine. Manafort will surely get the commission. And then there's always Deutsche Bank.
6
The truth is that Trump never wants deals; he want to crush people, defeat them, make them concede to his overpowering tactics. His interest is not the safety of the world, the United States, people's health, children; his interest is only himself and self-aggrandizement.He has not plan or strategy because he doesn't read, and I would bet dollars to donuts he paid people to do his coursework in college. He is, in short, a failure of a human being who doesn't mind taking the whole world down with him if it won't pay him homage.
8
How telling that the President of the United States has to grovel and appease Fox cable TV hosts when dealing with national policy issues. Speaks volumes to the outrageous power a business founded by a foreigner wields in this country. The damage that Fox has inflicted and continues to inflict on the USA is incalculable.
13
Not surprising Trump is attempting to distract attention from the investigations into his group's treason conspiracy with Russia with his "wall" nonsense, and its also not surprising that his devotees cannot put 2&2 together and ask why Trump didn't pursue his "wall" in 2017 and 2018 when the republicans controlled Congress? Would he have needed to shut down the government even at that time?
PROSECUTE RUSSIAGATE!
4
Every supporter of Mr. Trump should note well that Mexico is not paying for any part of the wall but only US taxpayers are paying. The President is agreeing to 24.2% of his original 5.7 billion $ request.
Other promises of the Trump campaign & presidency...
Denuclearization in North Korea.
Cancel all funding to sanctuary cities.
Commission on radical Islam.
Block grants for Medicaid to states.
No collusion with the Russians.
There seems to be a trail of broken promises and it only took a 78 year old grandmother named Nancy to make the President blink.
7
For his next magic trick, Trump the Tremendous will convince his Branch Donaldians that he will sign this bill because he tricked Democrats to give him what he actually wanted, and not because he's been told by Senator McConnell that if he doesn't sign the bill he will be overridden and proven to be the weakest, tiniest, worst president ever.
8
While the analysis written by Mr Baker and Ms Haberman makes complete sense to me, I am left a little uneasy by the format. Not troubled, but uneasy.
When is an "analysis" not an "opinion?"
How are either differentiated from a "news story?"
I raise the issues because we are awash in internet fueled opinion, often devoid of fact and often written by charlatans. Simply the portrait of the White House outreach to the Fox propaganda outlet should give us all cause for pause. Shades of Pravda, for those old enough to remember.
The NYT is far and above Fox, the WSJ, Vox and others in terms of trying to maintain some separation of "agenda" and "news," but that often depends on the topic or matter at hand.
Like I said, uneasy not troubled. But distinguishing among "analyses," "opinions," and "just the facts m'am 'news stories'" is becoming a key issue in this era of "fake news."
4
Yes the great negotiator fails again.
He understands "negotiations" the way a dictator does.
It's apparent to most he obviously thinks he's one.
A con, braggart and ignoramus to the core. He looks to Sean Hannity for advice and guidance. Oh brother.
Most citizens do not want a wall. That message will never get through to one whose ego is larger than Mt Everest.
Hope somehow he's not just removed but put in a mental hospital.
7
What seems to be lost in this analysis is that from January 20, 2017 until January 3, 2019, the Republicans in Congress could have passed whatever appropriation they wanted for the wall as they controlled both the House and the Senate. The fact that they did not even try until this past December is either validation that they did not feel a wall was necessary and/or an example of their hubris believing that they would prevail in the mid-terms, so there was no urgency.
19
There has been too little discussion in the media about the real reason this is a wall dividing our country from itself, more than the US and Mexico. The wall is a symbol that communicates what the US is. Are we nationalist or global? Are we open or closed? The question goes to the heart of what it means to be on the right or left in our time. George W. Bush, whose presidency finally disappointed the right as well as the left, had something of a gift for oratory that surprised his debate opponents more than once. He said that fearful nations build walls, confident nations tear them down.
6
I am confused. I thought we were talking about border security and all I read about this deal is the wall. What happened to enlarging, improving legal ports of entry through which most of the smuggled drugs come? What happened to increased numbers of border patrol personnel and vehicles along with increased electronic surveillance? Were any of these items included in this deal?
6
Some of the extreme right wing voices (Hannity, Coulter, Dobbs, Limbaugh et al) that control Trump's behavior remind me of the voices heard by people suffering from schizophrenia. He needs to quarantine this noise and rely on sounder council. While 35% of the electorate is significant, it won't help him over the election wall coming up in 2020. A wall on the Mexican border is an effort to provide a simple solution to a complex problem and can be absorbed by people who are easily confused.
8
"Andy Surabian, a former Trump White House aide, said the details do not matter to the president’s base as much as his determination to fulfill his promise. “His supporters don’t care about how the rest of the wall is built,” he said. “They just care that the wall is ultimately built.”"
In there lies the fundamental difference between GOPers and everyone else. Nothing gets done without a strategy and detailed plan of execution in the real world. GOP magical thinkers will lose, and then wonder why...
5
Well isn't that special that Lou Dobbs and Hannity have Trump's back if he accepts this slam down deal. Why doesn't Trump just bring them on board as special consultants as it seems that they have more influence on Trump than Ivanka or Jared have.
The "great negotiator" was out negotiated by a steely experience woman. That must hurt all the more. Wait till the impeachment process starts, Then Trump will really start feeling the pain. Can't wait.
4
@VMG Dobbs and Hannity would fit in nicely with the band of scoundrels Trump has amassed during his tenure, most of whom have been indited, convicted or jailed.....but they can make a lot more money as talking heads to his "base."
I'm sure the reporters behind this 'analysis' are beside themselves with self-congratulatory glee over these perceived gems of theirs: "In pursuit of a wall, President Trump ran into one.... "..."the most punishing deal," "scrounging for other ways to pay for the wall"... I'm sure they think they scored some points at the President's expense. Though I personally am an adamant opponent of the wall and the reasons bandied about for its putative necessity, I wonder and worry about the lack of objectivity in this piece, about the inability to stand back and offer an unbiased assessment, with no agenda of any kind but to tell us the facts, through a prism of critical analysis, and nothing but.
1
It’s an analysis; note the tag above the story.
Can anyone imagine where we'd be as a nation today, if Mr Trump had gone to the mat for either of his other "signature" campaign promises - like affordable health insurance that covers everyone, or the magnificent infrastructure overhaul bill? Interesting that his base is so willing to overlook his abject failure to deliver on two commitments that would have actually moved the country forward in a positive way, yet cling to the phony wall as the one thing they insist he come through on.
12
Interesting how quickly the Trump White House buckled under and then claimed victory. Perhaps they’re smarter and trickier than we shudder to think.
What price the Wall? Follow the money.
This administration is indebted to right-wing moguls, here and abroad. The goal is to line those supporters deep pockets.
How to accomplish? Privatization of government. Even the federal contractors lately affected by the shutdown have no assurance of remission, to date.
This is a central goal, I believe: Undermine public institutions and governance, create mass frustration, manipulate that anger into broad support for private enterprise, and open the coffers wide to more and more Halliburtons.
Coda: The national debt has risen by $2 trillion since this administration took office. Why? More federal spending, less tax revenue. A perfect public storm..
1
You know, there was a solution staring us all in the face all this time and it was completely overlooked. I can't believe I haven't thought of it until now.
Trump could have announced that even better than having Mexico pay for it, the wall will cost nothing. That's right $0, to build the big magnificent The Wall® by Trump using proven business practices.
Here's how it works. We will hire a bunch of contractors to build The Wall® by Trump and then, get this, we just won't pay them. Yes. That's right, we'll stiff them. It worked before in building of Trump's other monuments. And most recently in the shutdown as contractors won't be paid for that time.
It's so brilliant I can't believe we didn't think of this before! If stiffing contractors was good enough for Trump's casinos and hotels its good enough for The Wall® by Trump!
Problem solved. You're welcome.
4
The corporate media continually refer to building a wall as Trump’s “signature canpaign promise.” That is just not true. His “signature campaign promise” was that Mexico would pay to build a wall. That’s a very important difference, which Trump now avoids at all costs.
5
As I read this report, what I noticed most in it was about the “winning” and “losing” of politicians, personally as well as trying to save face with their “side.” Probably not all politicians are about this zero-sum game, but these seem to be fewer and fewer in number, given the Trump model that has been bought into. What is dismissed by the self-serving egoism involved is the welfare of the country, of course. Fighting has replaced reasoning by our so-called “leaders,” and is a grave situation for all of us.
1
His blind base should be asking why he didn't get the funding he wanted when the GOP controlled congress. Amazing how they seemingly ignore his daily missteps.
5
Why does this article not highlight the $11b lost from the 35 day shutdown stunt, and who should pay for this? It should be paid directly from the so called President, Coulter and Hannity. Can we not get at least an editorial to demand they pay up for this stunt? If we don’t, they will continue to pull these tricks all at the expense of the taxpayers.
5
Whether it’s Round 1 or Round 10, any legislative defeat of a sitting President is noteworthy. In this case, because it illustrates that Trump is not the skillful negotiator he portrays himself to be. But, more importantly, because it shows the strengthening backbone of Congressional Democrats. This cannot bode well for future rounds that will involve other highly charged - and more damaging - issues like Mueller’s findings and Trump’s tax returns. If I were a Republican, this what would concern me. Not a foolish vanity project like the wall. It’s likely that this defeat is just the first of many.
2
“The wall” is really just a token, a mere freckle on the face of the fight with Trump. The real issue for the Dems is to force Trump to accept that he lost the 2018 election and must now accept the constitutional requirement that appropriations must begin in the Congress. This is the lesson of history. Kings and dictators are held in check by the people’s control of the purse strings.
So, in the boxing analogy, wouldn't the first two years count as five rounds, the shutdown would be round six, and this new agreement, round seven. I believe that Trump is in desperate need of a knockout, as he is behind seven to zero on all scorecards.
1
“My style of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after.”
― Donald Trump, Trump: The Art of the Deal
So much winning!
3
I was listening to NPR yesterday. They were interviewing a Grandmother in El Paso and she said there is no crisis at the border. Of course we knew that. It's just hyperbole by the RightWing talking heads and Team Trump. But the evidence she gave was very simple and compelling:
First, she's a grandmother. She's not scared.
Secondly, she said her grandkids are outside playing right now. And to this she added that if there were some crises at the border and it was dangerous she wouldn't allow her grandkids to play outside.
She lives right next to the border - I repeat, right next to the border.
I guess the Right Wing is just filled with 'fraidy cats.
4
I don't want any more wall, I want better immigration policy that will help people who want to live and work in our country. I live in California and have taught many students whose families came from Mexico. Most of them want the same things I want for our families, a decent job, opportunities for education and advancement of our children.
In my mind, the call for a wall has always been a racist code. Mr. Trump doesn't like people with dark skin, unless he is employing them at his resorts at minimum wage.
We should start by offering DACA participants a clear path to citizenship, they have earned it. Future immigration must welcome the poor as much as the rich. We can't predict the value of a citizen by their bank account. Forget the wall, put the money into immigration courts.
193
@Joe Barnett
Amen. Amen.
6
Bravo!
6
Tax returns will be lower, and a quarter of people will get less. That will be remembered by the thoughtful, middle and upper middle classes who staunchly support Trump in my neighborhood.
3
Let’s not forget that the core support for less immigration is working class people who feel they have been, and continue to be, displaced by both legal and illegal immigrants who will accept lower pay than most Americans see as a living wage. They also feel displaced the legal export of jobs to low wage countries. It’s not racism, it’s basic economics. The current minimum wage, $7.25/hr, is not a living wage. It’s essentially impossible to live independently and pay for rent, food, utilities and transportation at that level. Unless the federal government implements policies that dramatically improve this situation, the visceral anger against unskilled immigrants will not even begin to dissipate. Neither political party is addressing the economic issues of the working poor right now. If the Democrats placed this policy issue above the immigration issue, they could win back the hearts and minds of those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. But alas, because President Trump is opposing immigration, these people on the bottom rungs feel that the Republicans are doing more for them than Democrats who are preoccupied with identity politics and enabling more immigration. This is how the Republicans have become, and will remain, the party of the working class until Democrats prioritize the economic issues of the working poor above identity politics and support for legal and illegal immigrants.
117
@Moderate whatever, you are talking on behalf of white working class. Black working class are the actual workers getting the minimum wage, and they are not up in arms over immigration. They do their 2 to 3 part time jobs to get by.
26
@Moderate
"Party of the Working Class"
Seriously? Giving away tax cuts to the top 0.01%? Just shows how out of touch the gop has gone.
39
@Moderate the truth is that immigrants cause economic growth and the US has virtually full employment. Numerous studies in the UK have shown that immigration has a negligible effect on wages and a substantial, positive effect on the economy.
As for the minimum wage being too low - yes, agreed, which is why so many blue states are introducing a $15 per hour minimum wage. Meanwhile, Trump has pushed through a massive tax cut for the wealthy that has left the poorest in society worse off. He also wants to cut their SNAP, medicare, medicaid etc etc.
Be clear that if you are talking perception, yes I get you but bear in mind opinion polls don't universally support your argument. If you are claiming what you say is actually TRUE then I can only say 'get outa here'.
30
I still don't understand what all this is about. Mexico is going to pay for the wall. Trump said so many times. The simple way to do this is to have the contractors submit their bills to Mexico, which will then pay them. Why, then, all this angst over how "we" are going to pay for the wall?
55
Cute, but thing it through- with whom do the contractors have their contracts ?
1
@Ken
Possibly Trump realizes that Mexico would treat those bills the way he treats his creditors’?
1
I find it interesting that a portion of this article discussed President Trump's connections to Fox News and the influence they have over his policy decisions. How they continue to call themselves journalists is beyond me. Just imagine the outrage of the right had former President Obama had Rachel Maddow on the speed dial of his Oval Office desk phone!
58
@Marni
Ditto. The "president" has to crawl/kowtow before Fox's reporters. That's how low he's brought our country.
"Mr. Trump argued that the shutdown had been useful because it educated the country about troubles at the border and, if nothing else, he has framed the national debate on his terms."
That's a cruel joke. Trump's border wall was a phony distraction from the beginning, as the "illegal employer" himself knows all too well.
Neither political party wants to upset their political donors by allowing effective measures to prevent illegal immigration on the agenda. It would be interesting to see how fast illegal immigration would disappear from the national discussion if Democrats were to propose mandatory use of E-verify by employers and prison for violators.
19
A brief timeline:
-A campaign advisor suggests Trump pitch a border wall.
-It resonates and Trump uses it continuously.
-Once he wins, some Republicans call the wall a metaphor.
-Trump begs Mexican president to avoid wall talk with media.
-Two years of full Republican control - no wall.
Then, with Democrats about to take control of the House, Trump holds a live, televised meeting with Pelosi and Schumer. He appears to believe his experience as a "reality" TV personality gives him an edge. Instead, in a transparent attempt to look tough, he says he will "own" a government shutdown over wall funding and will not blame Democrats for it.
Trump shuts down the government. He immediately blames Democrats. He threatens to keep the government shut down for months or years, displaying not only transparently empty threats as a negotiating tactic, but also colossal
ignorance of what government does. His poll numbers start dropping.
He "stands firm" in public, while privately wondering why Democrats aren't giving in. I think that's the saddest part of the entire debacle. It's like he's playing poker with his hand in plain sight of the whole table. He bluffs and then seems amazed when everyone calls his bluff.
Poll numbers still falling, Trump ends the shutdown. Now he will sign a bill with identical wall funding to what was offered before the shutdown. He will declare victory, while behind the scenes his minions beg conservatives in media and congress to be nice. Art Of The Deal.
82
Republicans in congress never wanted the wall. They just said that to get votes so they could pass tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulate corporations and raise taxes on the middle class. Now Trumpers are howling because they realize they have been played.
33
The "Right" will always be angry and they will always attack what they see as anything different from their own personal interests. But, they are more often wrong than right about what is in the interests of most Americans. Trump made a big mistake by listening to the advice of the Ann Coulters, Rush Limbaughs and all the other loudmouths in the Conservative wing of the Republican Party. They want to maintain their places in the hierarchy of talking heads, at the expense of what is best for the vast majority of average middle class Americans. If Trump wanted to gain popularity with average Americans he would have gone to rallies where others beside his "base" would gather. He would have listened to the real plight of those who are struggling day to day to make ends meet. Trump tied his reputation to the wrong band wagon. He shall thus meet his demise in the wreckage of the far right wing of the Republican Party.
28
I am still amused at the statements Trump has made during the past few weeks and months to temper any angry red hats, along with his senior advisors Coulter, Hannity and Rush, by proclaiming Mexico will indirectly pay for the wall as a result of a trade treaty that has not yet been considered by Congress, he will find the money from military construction (ok, as our military members are living in base housing that has mold, insect and rodent infestation), or some other despotic ways of "exercising executive authority".
Trump had a GOP majority for the first two years of this nightmare and yet there was no money appropriated. Yet Trump blames the Democrats (true, there was an issue of a majority vote). The majority of the people believe the wall is a waste and to use the money in a more wise fashion. Congress appropriated monies for increased manpower and surveillance technology and did not spend much of it.
So, Trump, the grand negotiator, will have his tantrum, he will exert his "executive authority" and get beat up in the courts, again, and the red hats will still be mad about the wall.
Sigh, just another day in Trumplandia.
20
@Dan Careful with those red hat comments. You don't want those Red Hat Society ladies coming after you.
That $1.something billion could have replaced a couple of major bridges that very probably, within the next 10 years, will collapse and kill tens if not a hundred people. And stifle commerce and travel to hundreds of thousands if not millions more.
Something ain't right about the base and the man who has all the wrong prescriptions for righting the base's wrongs.
The country will be paying the cost of Trump for a long, long time.
37
Why would Trump care about appeasing the “angry right.” Who else are they going to vote for, Elizabeth Warren? The political culture of the left these days is increasingly fueled by a mindset characterized by meaningless end zone dances... this one over a field goal a minute into the game.
4
@John what? The left is progressive, they want the nation to progress! Trump wants to bring America back to the 1950s and is full of hate and not inclusion for 'all americans' , it is not working. Elizabeth Warren has better plans for the country (if you cared to listen) than trump
2
How is fencing that costs $4,734.85 per foot justified?
$1,375,000,000 / (55 miles x 5280 feet/mile) = $4,734.85 (rounded) per foot
Whether you support the fencing or not, how is budgeting this amount per foot justified? Where is the money going?
18
@Rodney Taft. This I have been thinking of too, some contracters are going to reach instant millionaire (or billionaire) status. If trump was smart, he could hire working class contracters and build 1000 miles of his wall with that 1.375 billion.
1
American labor.
He forgets who he works for. Thank goodness for this reminder!
11
Is this a government or PR firm? Hannity et al should not be running this country. Where is mueller? We have to end this farce.
20
to Baker and Haberman:
I generally like your articles but this one is missing a very very important piece of information that concerns trumps thinking and behavior.
Trump was all set to sign a $1.3 Billion agreement in late December. Then, 2 days before funding was to run out, his buddies/controllers at Faux new said bad things about him so he reneged on his agreement and 800,000 employees to close to a million contractors were out of work and maybe pay.
As journalists you have a responsibility to present the whole truth about what happened and not slant things by saying "things just stalled". You know that's not true. Trump broke his word is what really caused all those people that grief.
30
By not saying whether he will sign it, Trump is doing his reality-TV show schtick of attempting to build suspense before he finally does what everyone already knows he will and signs it.
Side-note: On a clip last night on PBS, Trump said "...we'll be looking for landmines because you could have that it's been known to happen before to people..." He was likely talking about poison pills in the legislation, but he said it in front of the president of Colombia, a country that has a devastating legacy with actual landmines, with scores of innocent people killed and maimed.
9
More than two years after becoming president, Donald Trump's border wall has become both a siren's song and a millstone hanging around his neck. He infamously claimed during the 2016 campaign and afterward that Mexico would pay for his wall. Then it didn't. Then his needless 35-day shutdown, which he declared he "owned", would force the Democrats to see reason. They didn't. So now with $1.375 billion dollars allocated for "physical fencing" instead of the demanded $5.7 billion for his steel wall, the president must either raid other programs for wall money or declare a "national emergency" or both. At the end of the day, whether he admits it or not, it seems that the sun has finally set on his adored wall.
13
The Republicans had two years to give Trump what he wanted and didn't. The Democrats were willing to give Trump what he wanted in exchange for a DACA deal and he turned it down. Both parties were willing to give him most of what he wanted if he agreed to keep the government running and he opted for a shutdown. And now, after snatching defeat from the jaws of victory not once but many times, this supposedly great dealmakers is reduced to what he does best: lying that losing is actually winning.
17
To his "base" he promised a wall. To his actual base he promised a tax cut. Who's still waiting?
12
Factual point but if you step back. Any given Republican who might have been elected over HRC would have happily done the same sort of new tax laws which Trump signed. Even the Democrats acknowledged the need to corporate rate changes versus the tax rates in other Western nations. The tax law is a product of the Congress which was Republican controlled during the first two years. So any president could have sat and waited for the bill to reach the Oval Office desk for a signature. Ditto for the Supreme Court picks. Perhaps it would have been different faces than Trump’s nominations but certainly would have been conservative in nature and approved by the Republican Senate.
1
Trump has had the advantage of his own personal propaganda machine broadcasting his fever dreams 24/7 to his credulous followers. Now even his constant lying can't obfuscate the fact that he is not the king sent to fix everything for them as Fox has proclaimed. It must come as quite a shock to both him and his acolytes, neither known for their deep thinking or understanding of complex situations.
11
lets see last year he could have had it all, 25 billion, if he had just agreed to negotiate, then he could have had 1.6 billion in December, instead he caved because Hannity and others said he should, thus a the longest government (35 days) shut down in history. trump likes to brag, so now he can brag about the shut down record. ok a normal person wouldn't think that would be something to brag about, the key word being normal. now it appears that an agreement to keep the government open, with now 1.2 billion approved for 55 mile of new fencing, and it even says in the wording that not one of trumps prototypes, can be used, or the structure can't be made of concrete. so where, after all is said and done, where is trump on the wall he promised his base, I will say mission not accomplished. settling is not winning. but trump will find a way to make his sheep think they won. he tells that he wall is already under construction, how without approval and funding from Congress. just another trump lie.
8
Let Trump and his supporters keep focusing on the wall.
We do not need more of Trump's incompetence focused
on areas where even more damage could be done.
Go ahead "Finish the wall". It's all just theater and
from what I can see the ratings are plummeting.
6
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the EPA is threatened, as is NATO - we are abandoning our allies and our land; the rich are getting richer; Russia gloats at its success at getting an incompetent, corrupt, reality tv show personality (who owes certain favors) elected as president of the united states, while our "leader" and corporations plunder it. A democracy demands something of its people - that they be educated and able to think for themselves and beyond their own narrow interests. That they hold freedom and justice to be more valuable than other things. The system isn't broken - we've failed it. What comes after we let our democracy crash?
17
I disagree about the most punishing defeat for President Trump. It will come on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.
A day that can't come soon enough.
13
“I think he handled it as well as anybody could handle it, given a dysfunctional Congress,” Mr. Meadows told reporters.
says the REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN from north carolina.
10
@me
Who happens to be a member, the leader, of the most dysfunctional caucus in Congress.
1
His base has no where else to go. However unhappy that he didn't get his wall they will still come to his rallies and lustily cheer him. Also he can spin this, and since the base are true believers they will swallow whatever pablum he delivers.
5
@David
Maybe Trump can just tell them the wall has been built when it hasn't. They will never fact check what he says. Mission accomplished.
So sad that Trump's promises of infrastructure improvements have not been addressed. The nation's roads, bridges and transportation have been neglected while a worthless and unnecessary
wall gets all the attention.
2
All that this has to do with is preventing another government shut down, so the highly paid Federal workers can sit at their desks busy doing nothing at all and keep the restaurants and bars hopping in DC. Thank you.
1
@Southern Boy Both the FBI and the Secret Service were part of the contingent that went unpaid, why do you assume they are doing nothing? Also, the staff at the IRS who were forced to return to work, sans pay, just to make sure tax returns were being processed.
4
@Southern Boy The majority of Federal workers do not work at desks in Washington, they work at locations across this land and on our waters. They are Foresters, First Responders, members of the Coast Guard, enforce our customs laws, secure our borders, watch over our food, supply, our health and our environment. They take care of our veterans and manage the safest air system in the world. The list goes on and on. These dedicated people that serve our nation are to be commended not disparaged.
4
@Southern Boy
To all who have replied and who will read this comment, unless it is removed like most of mine are, understand that I recall the many times walking through the National Archives, and looking across the vast atrium at the employees playing solitaire on their computers. One, in particular, stood out. He would boast that there was nothing that could be done about him because he was a veteran and had a 30 point disability. He was protected; he was "untouchable" as known throughout the government. I wonder how many non-federal workers, especially those who read the NYT, know that all applicants who are vets get a 10 point advantage over civilians, especially those with a 30 point disability are hired over other candidates, whether or not if they can do the job. The Pentagon overflows with them. Another fed With whom I worked said that the vet must be hired over the civilian according to the law (however, I defied that). Finally, I will add that one vet I knew bragged of getting his 30 point disability from badly twisting his ankle in a softball game. I will leave it that. Thank you.
1
It seems that the 'angry right' has convenient amnesia! They deliberately ignore the inclusion of the phrase 'Mexico will pay for it' in Trump's campaign promise! Now the 'less spending' minded right wants to charge the tax payers for their fool's promise! This after they gave their favorite demographic a huge tax cut!
12
“The Wall” is a symbolic issue - a physical metaphor for the xenophobia and racism that characterize both Trump and his “base”.
His senseless act of initiating a government shutdown merely gave the Democrats a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the obvious - the Emperor has no clothes.
Are we all tired of.”winning” yet?
9
"Mr. Trump argued that the shutdown had been useful because it educated the country about troubles at the border."
The shutdown educated the country about how truly essential government services are, highlighted more facts about how the wall is not only unnecessary but ineffective in concept, and provided yet another example of how utterly, tragically bogus this administration is.
I wonder what kind of callous reactions to the story of the girls who perished in the fire in Guatemala we'd be subjected to by the base. These are the type of people in the so-called caravans. They deserve our compassion and empathy, traits too often overlooked by the evangelicals who rabidly support this man in the White House.
God, these are terrible, terrible times.
9
When is a wall a wall, and when is a wall not a wall? Yet another way to divide ourselves . . .
4
I cannot comment on just the spin by Baker and Haberman on the border deal. Does the deal still include aid to the corrupt and supporters of corrupt regimes? Is there more than a dollar for the wall? Is there funding cut for those wasteful government programs that we all know exist? Is the deal a down payment on the wall or barrier across America that will block all illegal entry points? Can the President use the funding to buy the supplies to get the army corps of engineers to build a secure wall with surveillance cameras and drones?
The demise of a plan to prevent Trump from ensuring Southern border security and plugging the illegal entry points is highly exaggerated.
2
@Girish Kotwal Keep in mind that Trump has only spent about 6% of his Border Security budget, why is that? Is Border Security a priority or not?
1
In the long run, Trump -- to say nothing of the country in general -- will be a lot better off if the wall is not built. Inevitable cost overruns, missed deadlines, accidents, stories of people losing important land to eminent domain and constant breaches will belie his contention that as a builder, he could build a great wall. It would be a boondoggle that forever would be a symbol of his incompetent presidency.
9
It isn't signed until he uses his magic marker. We all know that. I'm not holding my breath, but I hope he uses that Sharpie.
3
Mr. Trump has been building walls since he began running for the WH.
He has built walls between neighbors, friends and families who are separated by ideology and moral values which Mr. Trump has exacerbated with his name calling, lies and overall bullying behavior.
10
January 21, 2021. Trump is out, disgraced in defeat. The 'wall" remains more or less what it was prior to his so-called presidency. I wonder if his base is at least honest enough with themselves to acknowledge that nothing in their daily lives really changed. There are no gangs running amok in their streets. There are no caravans of terrorists overwhelming a border that is likely thousands of miles from their homes. There are still brown-skinned laborers picking their crops and packing their meats and bussing their tables and caring for their children. Life proceeds apace.
7
Having to sell his decisions to a bunch of radio and tv hosts with no skin in the game other than ratings, shows how truly weak Trump is. Can you imagine the outcry if it was discovered that Obama had called Maddow?
8
Immigration reform and improvement:
1) Path to citizenship for all undocumented migrants living in the U.S. who have not committed violent crimes. (DUI is not a violent crime.)
2) Hold passports and take fingerprints and such of all visa holders until they leave the country. Make visa overstays beyond a month a crime, if they are attempts to illegally immigrate, punishable by imprisonment. (Case by case basis.)
3) Take fingerprints, pictures, etc. of all illegal border entrants. Turn them back with instructions on how to legally apply for asylum at appropriate places. If they try to illegally cross again, put them in jail for five years.
4) Work with Mexico to make resettlement there very desirable.
5) Work with Central-American countries to help their economic and crime problems.
6) Improve border security. This includes building walls where border experts deem them necessary.
17
@Ira Brightman
2 and 3 are not so clear cut. 3 would require increasing the number of people who can claim asylum - those who try to are also being turned away. The imprisonment concept could also lead to an increase in incarceration. People don’t try to come to America just for fun- they are fleeing life threatening conditions and may try again despite the consequences. 2 would have to be implemented very carefully. The first thing I see when I read it is an increase in the prison population, which is already too high. Then I see selective enforcement, based on country of origin (case by case basis) which could lead to greater disparities in the criminal justice system. Lastly, it would require a potential reallocation of resources or a new mission of ICE.
Overall, what your proposal is missing is a commitment to overhauling how immigration is treated and how it is enforced. There is a culture of you shouldn’t be here so we’re forcibly kicking you out (and to a point you mention this in your first point) but the dehumanization of immigrants is one of the thing that got us here in the first place.
2
@5Grace
We can't take in everyone fleeing horrors. Hence resettling them in Mexico. If we release those Americans now jailed for minor crimes, incarcerating people who prefer the U.S. over Mexico (which is willing to accept them) and try to serially enter illegally, won't seem so bad.
The threat of prison should deter almost all who are faced with it, border-jumpers and visa overstays. Plus we won't be temporarily incarcerating or using courts for people illegally entering with my idea for instant turnback.
My first proposal calls for ALL now living here to become full citizens. Hardly a kick-out idea.
@Ira Brightman DUI is absolutely a violent crime, and is absolutely disqualifying. Go tell that "not a violent crime" garbage to the people like my sister in law, who was hit near Sacramento by an illegal, uninsured and under the influence driver.
1
I sure hope Pres. Trump's people have been assured that by signing this agreement, thereby "uniting" Congress on border wall-funding, it does not preclude the president from accessing any other encumbered funding streams to build more walls on our southern borders.
3
Among other items, that'd include funding for new and rehabbed military housing, and disaster relief in Texas, Puerto Rico and California. What do you choose to defund? or, if truly unspent, return it to the treasury and get the Congress to do its job of appropriation.
1
See you in court
3
Make no mistake: Mr Art of the Deal caved on this one, or in his preferred parlance, choked like a dog. But I would like to cut him some slack, because I know why he gave in on the wall that Mexico would pay for. You see, Trump, like us under his marvelous administration, has, as he promised, become sick of winning. His accomplishments in a mere two years, have been so many and so profound, he obviously lost interest in the beautiful wall he promised us. That, one must concede, is the only logical explanation. Congratulations Mr Trump.
23
@Lesothoman I love your sarcasm. The Wall is probably the highlight of the massive list of accomplishments he has not accomplished. Now that he has ramped up the golf simulator in the WH so he can spend all the hours scheduled for Executive Time in honing his game, even more accomplishments will issue forth!!! LOL
1
I wish the Times and others would have emphasized that Trumps budget called for a 20% cut in cancer research while at the same time he thinks there is plenty of money for an ill advised wall
49
Is Trump the first President to have never used a veto in his first 2 years?
1
I think you mean cheeto.
There has never been a greater example of how ignorant Trump is and how easily he is swayed by the last person to talk to him than this dispute about his wall.
He had made a deal with Senators from both parties a year or so ago for 25 billion for his wall and DACA for Democrats. Then Stephen Miller, whose credentials would not get him into a store front law firm, advised Trump that he should demand a 40% reduction in legal immigration. That was the end of that agreement.
The most recent fiasco was caused by, and this staggers the imagination, the President of the United States changing his mind because of criticism from TV and radio hacks.
No wonder when professionals in the Justice Department first dealt with Trump the first thing they thought of was Article 25.
His lack of knowledge and jumbled thinking is getting more of a concern as his fortunes falter.
39
This is not a deal, it is a slap in the face of our President. It is clear that the Democrats have no interest in border security, or anything else that President Trump supports. Do not sign this garage legislation. Declare a state of emergency and start building with gusto. If the Dem's want to litigate, let them. When they are done with their predictable hissy fit in the courts, re-open the government. They pledged to negotiate in good faith but chose to make these proceedings a mockery. The President gave them their chance.
@Dan Micklos You are not paying attention. The Democrats were more than happy to give Trump over big bucks last year for his wall in exchange for DACA etc. That's what negotiation is all about. At the last minute, one of Trump's handlers spoke to him and he nixed the deal. Currently Trump has only spent 6% of his Border Security budget so do you seriously think he cares about the Border? Give me a break. It's all about him losing face with his cronies at Fox News. That's all that matters to him. The hissy fits are generated by Trump, not the Democrats. Democrats had smart practicals ideas about Border Security that would cost a lot less money. Trump won't even listen to good advice. It's his way or the highway.
3
@Dan Micklos This was a bipartisan committee of both houses of Congress that arrived at a consensus. Neither side gets all that they want; governing tends to work that way. It is completely false to claim that Democrats did not negotiate in good faith. I notice you do not mention at all that the president threw cold water on the committee as it began its work, asserting that they would never get to a deal. That, sir, is an example of poisoning the well, and certainly reveals that the Republican president was not supporting his own party in the negotiations. I would say that is bad faith. Wake up. Please wake up.
3
Yea ain't it great:)!
There was never a convincing argument as to why $5.7 billion was the essential number. Forgetting all the counter arguments about the morality of "the wall" and racism, which I also don't buy, Trump and his team did not successfully provide any kind of fact based support for why this number. Instead he took to the airwaves and and tried to bully his way to the answer he wanted, even inviting the shut down. So his "base" isn't happy but where are they going? And the moderates in his party are shaking their heads because this entire shameful episode seems like it was very unnecessary.
11
@Charlie There is no convincing fact based argument why $25 billion is necessary; nor is there any valid fact based argument for building ‘the wall’ at all. The willingness of some citizens to be deluded and entranced by Trump, also known as Individual 1, still astonishes. Any knowledgeable, sane person, for example, knew that the sovereign nation of Mexico was NEVER going to pay for the wall (they said so) and that we cannot force a sovereign nation do our bidding.
1
I guess that Trump has won so much that he is getting tired of winning and winning.
11
"One call was made to Lou Dobbs, a favorite of Mr. Trump’s whose Fox Business Network show he often tries to catch live. Another was placed to Sean Hannity . . . ."
Houston, we have a BIGLY problem.
15
“But we have options that most people don’t really understand.”
Including Himself it would seem.
13
Trump could care less because he is entirely existential living based on the nanosecond now. His witless moment is couched in terms of a topic change generated entirely from Trump's pathologies. Tomorrow Trump will rule the headlines and shutdown will be yesterday's topic.
7
So he is ending up with 50 miles of additional trellis at the Mexican border...
He had declined the Senate deal in December BEFORE shutting down government which would have given him twice as much money for border protection. He had also failed pushing his pet project in his first two year while he HAD a House majority and he could have gotten away with even more.
To sum it up: Obama built more Mexican fence than Donald ever will. What a great dealmaker he is!
13
Enough with the wall. Democrats need to seize the narrative. Too much attention is paid to bad ideas.
15
Only the most die-hard and politically blind supporters of Donald Trump will fail to see the truth revealed about this man and his "Art of the Deal" negotiating prowess. It was always all smoke and mirrors. He didn't even write the book himself.
I grew up in New York City and Trump's antics to get attention were well known to any New Yorker. He was always desperate to get his face on Page Six. He was nothing but a spoiled rich kid from Queens who dreamed of making it in Manhattan real estate.
If his father had not been funneling him money over the years to the tune of over $413 million that kept his business ship afloat it would have sunk many times over due to his complete lack of business skills and narrow vision.
This self-proclaimed "King of Debt" just kept borrowing money to feed his empire, and it was only by the sheer luck of a perfect political storm that he rose to the highest office in the land.
The wall that he often said Mexico would pay for is beginning to crumble all around him and it cannot happen fast enough.
22
Watch out. When baby Trump is unhappy, people suffer. His promise of a wall is not what is bothering him. It is being bested by a women (Pelosi) that is eating at him and his perceived loss of face will make him more vindictive. It is also true that he needs his supporters more than they need him. They are his major ego shot. So he will lie his way out of this moment as he is already doing, while blaming his failure on the Democrats. Now he saying that he has started his big beautiful wall, will take money allocated by Congress from any source, may call for an emergency or he may shut down the government. This is a president?
12
Thomas Friedman the NY Times reporter, who usually doesn't think about the natural world, recently made an observation that should be on everyone's mind.
The population of Africa was 140 million in 1900. Today it is 1.5 BILLION. It is headed to 2.5 BILLION in 2050.
Those same numbers are applicable in population growth in most of the countries that are experiencing chaos.
That is where the rivers and tidal waves of immigrants are coming from. Until we take down the people wanted shingles sign we will see ongoing environmental destruction and chaos at the border. Building a wall might just be the stick that helps get the ignorant huddled masses thinking about family size instead of full scale invasions of our country and the limits of what is the earths ability to sustain life.
3
An abstract reaction to a real, daily problem.
1
@Ben Ross We actually need immigrants as our population is dwindling. Immigrants help grow our economy and enhance American life. America was built by Immigrants. A Wall is the last thing we need and would be a money-suck as well as being hugely impractical and environmentally devastating. We need instead, more judges and staff to adjudicate the people who, in the end, are just looking for a better life. We should be admiring them, not condemning them.
@Ben Ross. Your hubris is showing — not everyone in the world wants to emigrate to the United States. Really. Especially now.
1
The message to be taken from this: Democracy works!
3
This is all looking more and more like a rerun of Watergate....and we already know the ending. Couldn't happen to a more appropriate coward and draft-dodger. One major different twist here though, a future possibility of a pardon won't save The Family from charges about to emanate from the State of New York. Gooses are being Cooked as we speak.
9
@Bigmamou the city of New York is going to give him his comeuppance after all his racist and classist hate he has shown over his years to the hard working migrant workers in New York. It is telling that new Yorkers hate him so much, yet people that know nothing about him in white mid West etc worship him.
@Bigmamou
Certainly, this pathetic situation looks more like Watergate ever day, except our fearless leaders has no idea what's really happening.
So (like the departure of Nixon waving his arms "in victory" as he left in his helicopter so we shall see Trump in the same position a short time from now
.
At this moment, his staff must be working night and day on wording the the president "really won".
What a pathetic waste of time and taxpayer money. Pity.
If Trump really wants to satisfy his base he would keep his word and get Mexico to pay for the wall. This is just a distraction to keep the rest of us from wondering what is going on with the Mueller investigation.
The only promise Trump has kept is to make the rich richer and the poor poorer with the Tax Reform Bill. Funny how he could sign that but would not keep the Government open. What a guy.
Oh wait, I forgot about McConnell, the real bad acto here. Had he allowed a vote on the bi-partisan budget, sent it to Trump, let Trump veto it and then have the Senate override the veto, we would have avoided this mess altogether.
McConnell is the creep here.
10
I do not think this deal will go over well with the other Presidents, Coulter and Hannity. Did President trump even give them the respect of checking with them before he agreed to this? I hope they are okay with this. They never gave him permission for this. Terrible presidenting. Just terrible. No respect for the other presidents.
6
"...any aspirations of collaboration across party lines may be even more elusive than he had imagined."
Seriously? Do you really think he had any desire to collaborate? He made demands, there was no effort or aspiration of collaboration. He demanded, he whined, and he threw a tantrum, as any spoiled five year old would do. Great negotiator... pffft...
7
Right-wing radio yesterday reported that this outcome was actually a "staggering" victory for the President and that anyone who didn't understand this was spewing fake news designed to, once again, damage this Presidency.
The reality is that the "great negotiator" is no negotiator at all. The outcome for the President here is really no different than his numerous casino bankruptcies. Bully your way in and walk away when it fails.
But, because 35+% of America will accept anything positive said by or about the President, he will continue to play to this base regardless of the cost to him or the country.
There sure is "fake news" at work here. Just not the kind the President and his base keep citing.
23
@Mike McDonough: As former supervisor at LS was wont to say, "Il faut chercher le juste milieu,"or find a middle road between 2 extremes, and President Trump, with a hostile House, antagonistic press corps acting as a branch of the Dem. Party, has made the best of a difficult situation by obtaining a modest subsidy towards building thewall. But what tired metaphors r employed here, as if commenters had all read the same tropes on the same websites. President has fulfilled his promises, created more jobs than his predecessors,rejected with good reason the Climate Accord signed in Paris that would have put constraints on us but not on other major polluting nations, and rejected TPP which would have given jobs to Vietnamese rather than to Mexicans.Alexander Harrison supports Trump, and has read Descartes's "Premieres Meditations" and is therefore a Cartesian. Can u say as much?Above all, pres. is always himself, spontaneous, and just think of the number of news anchors and correspondents who would be on the unemployment line were it not Trump in the WH!The Donald is a U. of Penn. graduate,considered 1 of the smartest readers of contracts in the business.Reminded of opponents of De Gaulle when Big Charlie was negotiating end of French rule in Algeria,some of whom sought numerous times to "degommer"the C-IN-C, and Massu's response to them:"Si vous n'avez pas De Gaulle, vous avez qui?"If we don't have Trump to defend our sovereignty, we have whom?
@Alexander Harrison Great satire!
1
@David: With what do you disagree with: admiration for Descartes , comparison of The Donald with De Gaulle, increase in economic activity of a positive kind under the c-in-c,rejection of international agreements like the ones with Iran and and with signatories of the Climate Accord,Trump's perspicacity as a reader of contracts, his magnetism?Nothing satirical about any of the above.If you, second person plural, are not specific in your criticism, there is nothing that I can learn from you, and the purpose of the Comments section is to stimulate meaningful debate!
It's disgraceful that FOX and loudmouth radio personalities have such power over the President of the United States. Most people elected to this office surrounded themselves with advisors who assisted in areas where they personally had little knowledge, e.g. Military. Sadly, King Donald seems to have disposed of everyone who disagrees with him and is left with no expertise about anything. Our country is in danger.
17
Earlier this morning trump tweeted effusively about the completion of 732 miles of invisible wall along the southern border.
He calls it the greatest accomplishment ever of any president.
His base should be ecstatic, he added.
5
I love the NYT, but publishing this before Trump signs or refuses is maybe out of line. He reads (at least the headlines), and there’s good reason to think this article would manipulate his decision making.
5
I think it's telling that the White House would have a deputy chief of staff who is a former Fox executive and "is seen as adept at getting some hosts at Fox to respond to White House concerns."
There is no dog, there is no tail. There is only wagging.
12
Mr. "Art of the Deal" and the team of marginally competent sycophants with which he's surrounded himself have now demonstrated beyond cavil that this White House is incapable of leadership in a democracy. He has had two years to make a case, present counter-arguments to objections and build a consensus...with his own party in charge of Congress. He did nothing. Issuing edicts, sending insulting tweets, name-calling, throwing temper tantrums, walking out of the room...these are not the actions of a leader, they're the actions of a petulant, boorish, undisciplined child. God help this country if we ever have a true national crisis. Donald Trump couldn't lead this nation out of room with a single door clearly marked "EXIT."
10
The problem for Trump is that he was only one strategy and that is to bully. This is true of all psychopaths. If psychopaths can get cooperation through manipulation, lying, and belligerence, they don’t need to ratchet up. However, when it is clear that their opponents won’t be cowed, they don’t change. They don’t negotiate or compromise. They double down using the same failing strategy. In the long run this is their undoing, as it will be for Trump.
5
What Meadows referred to as a dysfunctional Congress is actually a *functional* Congress. Get used to it, Tea Partiers!
10
Let’s all face Reality: The so-called “Wall” is never, or should never, be built! This is how untapped and totally unrealistic promises usually end up.
The Great Wall of China actually did work for awhile, but it was like building a wall at the beach as a child. It worked until the tide came in; period!!!
20 years ago, I actually climbed the wall in Douglas, Arizona on a bet. I was 60 years old, and I climbed it without any devices. I didn’t achieve that or any other reason than to show the stupidity of putting up barriers without purpose!
We need border security. That’s a fact! When our country was first being founded, we took anyone who could make the trip. The Land/Man ratio was wide open! We needed PEOPLE! Today, impoverished people just want to survive. It’s true that you’ll always find criminals and just “bad” people wanting to cross our border, but the vast majority are just looking for a better life than where they come from. We can’t and shouldn’t let everyone in, but we can and should find a much better way to deal with it.
FACT: Donald Trump and the Republicans could have built the WALL at anytime they wanted to prior to the midterms. Why didn’t they? I want Fox News, Rally supporters, and all the Obsequious Sycophants of Trumps to answer that!
5
Usually when Coulter and Friends get upset with The Donald and go for his jugular by questioning his manhood, he does a complete 360.
The fact that this hasn’t happened (yet) signals the apparent presence of an adult in the room advising Trump to be more rational and less impulsive.
My biggest problem is trying to figure out who the adult is. They seem to have all been fired, quit, or indicted.
7
This is what the Left calls a big Victory? Surprising since the wall is and has been being built for quite some time. Trump is continuing what Clinton started and laste Presidents continued.
Trump will get done what needs to be done and finish the job in his second term. The Left has seen to that.
The ending of the Mueller Coverup is coming to an end and its as thinking people with no DJT Syndrome knew all along which is that its a big Nothing Burger.
The Left has no agenda, no plans, no leaders with any ideas except obstruct obstruct obstruct. Your candidates are far more frightening than DJT to me.
Trump has accomplished far more to help this country than you ever hear about in the NYT.
Poor Trump, trying his hardest to spin this as a victory.
Trump, you ain't seen nothing yet.
5
When we write about people pushing a policy, especially when they are in a position of power, say, president, can we please note any glaring hypocrisies in the lead off?
Such as “President Trump, who has a long record of hiring immigrants, both legal and illegal, wants to build a wall...”
4
Thank you Nancy Pelosi. You've given us all, except you know who, a Valentine showing strong female leadership and love for democracy over the autocratic cruelty and hate of Donald Trump.
6
No amount of spin is going to change the fact that Donald got his clocked cleaned. Only thing he seems to be good at is disruption. What an embarrassment.
3
Children can always get what they want. This president needs a wall but denies global warning. Smart people have to win or we’re doomed.
2
I am so frustrated by all the inane discussion on immigration. I am a liberal Democrat, but even I realize that we can't just let anyone in who wants to come. I'm not sure that gang and domestic violence are a legitimate reason for immigration. If you take that to it's logical conclusion, it would mean that the entire population of El Salvador and Honduras as well as a good deal of Mexico would qualify, not to mention Venezuela and the rest of the world.
Trump has made it impossible to have a rational discussion of what does qualify people for immigration. He has proposed a simple minded solution of a wall, because he and his supporters are simple minded.
Some measures that seem more effective than the stupid wall.
. A clear definition of what qualifies a person to immigrate. The
hardest of all!
. An E-verify system required of ALL employers.
. Enough immigration judges to hear cases within a month of
arrival.
. Serious assistance to countries that are the source of most
people showing up at the border.
7
As long as the so-called "options" include trampling all over private property rights along the border, the so-called "Republicans" should be against it. Oh those.
3
“I think he handled it as well as anybody could handle it, given a dysfunctional Congress,” Mr. Meadows told reporters.
No, Mr. Meadows, this is what a "functional" congress is supposed to do, in fact, did in this case. For a dysfunctional congress, one has only to look at what the immediately preceding one failed to do and at what it did to, but not for, the American citizen.
34
I hope he can appease the Fox commentators, Rush and Ann—those handful of far-right fringers that dominate his thinking and control his mind.
9
How to finance the wall: you don't need Congress' approval because "Mexico will pay for the wall" -- yea, sure.
8
trump has one card to play; the bully card. He plays it every time. This loss makes him look impotent. I bet a lot of people seeing this learn to stand up to this paper bully.
17
How does 55 miles of fence cost $1.375 billion? How does any fence cost $25 million per mile?
Either our current Congress are the most inept political leaders of all time, or the New York Times is leaving some critical piece of information out of their reporting, or someone expects to really cash in on this project.
$4,735 a foot for a fence? I hate the idea of a wall, but a slab of concrete that's 1 foot thick, 16 feet tall and 10 feet wide will cost around $600. Making numbers up, let's say installation will be another $600, to dig a trench 10 feet long and 6 feet deep (10' above ground), set the wall, and then backfill. That works out to $120 a foot. Even if I'm off by a factor of 10, that leaves $3,500 profit per foot.
Can I bid on this project?
10
@H -
Well there is the buying and the taking of land by eminent domain (something Trump has historically favored battling old ladies for parking lots) where the land to build the wall on will have to paid for. There are the inevitable legal fees and lawyers cost a lot. There will be studies and engineering to be done as well. And all that before any quid pro quo deals.
But you are right - you can build a heck of a highway for $25 million a mile!
2
@H No doubt they're using the NYC real estate market formula to come up with those prices.
1
Wall, wall and wall....just stop this nonsense and sign it , will you Mr. President !
His constant lies in terms of a single brick would have finished the wall and leaving some to spare.
We have better thing to deal with, global warming, people dying in the street due to unbearable weather, hungry for lack of food.
Time is running out, Madame Nancy Pelosi just a few years older than trump have better sense than the rest of the Republicans.
8
In my 70 years of life I have encountered people who lied a lot. It really was offensive that these individuals thought so little of others. Trying to sort out the truth (if any) became exhausting so I stopped paying attention to them. Trump joined the group years ago. There is a lot going on in the world other than this gasbag. I wish US media outlets would ignore him too.
13
Trump is bigly weak. Just like Jimmy Carter, he cannot get along with Congress and gets little accomplished. The next two years will tread water. Unlike Jimmy Carter, he has no morals except what’s good for his ego.
7
I didn't realize Congress could include Mexico's national budget to fund the $1.37B for a border barrier! Cool!
6
The Times should dig in on what “other means” Trump is planning to use for his stupid wall. Will he take money from military budgets set aside for development like projects already planned by the Army Corp of Enigneers? Will he take money from military budgets set aside for training civilians and contractors such as treatment programs for PTSD?
Somebody somewhere is going to pay the price for these “other options” and it most definately won’t be Mexico.
9
Is his base tired of winning yet?
6
“His supporters don’t care about how the rest of the wall is built,” he said. “They just care that the wall is ultimately built."
Trump's base. Can't say foresight or rationality are their strong suits. They simply hate and fear any brown-skinned folk, and believe Trump's lies about violent and criminal South-of-the-border neighbors.
They choose to burn billions of tax dollars to build an unnecessary and ineffective wall, over paying for infrastructure improvements, better public education, green energy and product incentives, clean air and water.
Trump's base hasn't read that the number of immigrants is at its lowest point in 20 years, or that the vast number of immigrsnts are women and children, not rapists and thieves.
Their racism is akin to religious belief,
in that it's not substantiated by fact. This includes Trump's well-heeled Freedom Caucus and the right-wing opinionators, like Ann Coulter.
The Christian haters haven't absorbed the fact that Christ said to welcome all strangers. The Old Testament says to welcome all strangers, for they may be the angels of God.
The neo-Nazis wallow in unreasoning hatred and a hard-core belief in white supremacy.
The U.S. does suffer from low wages, lack of environmental protection, policies that hurt, rather than help, Americans. Blame these, and your higher tax bill, on the Republicans and Trump. Not our southern neighbors.
The wall? If built, will only be torn down, by the next non-racist administration.
7
Now the President knows how it feels to run into a wall.
3
This is a total win for Democrats. A wall isn't a wall if there is even a single hole in it. As long as Freedom Loving people have access to this country the Democrats have won.
Let them all in!
3
I for one am glad to see this “Wall” scam laid bare. The “Wall” is perhaps the biggest whopper Trump has tried to make the American public swallow, up to and including his even having Neilson mount a plaque with his name on a section of border fence that Obama built. As we speak this idiot is having the National Butterfly Refuge bulldozed on the Rio Grande. A property that is home to Monarch Butterflies... BUTTERFLIES and a sacred Native American burial site and other endangered species because why? The land was easy to confiscate. There are no reports of it being a conduit for illegals or drugs. Conflating a physical enormous “Wall “ with border security and fear of immigrants is the kind of gross exaggeration only a tabloid president would make and only a really gullible person will believe: the kind of person that sends their savings to an email scammer or buys into a scam robo call. Any remaining clear-eyed “Waller’s” are simply cynical partisans. The bi-partisan congress has just crafted a set of corrective lens for democracy. Let’s hope they help us maintain our focus.
7
Make no mistake about it, the support of Trump's base is using this unfounded fear of 'Brown People' from Central America as a surrogate for their fear and hatred of African Americans.
Their specious arguments for building the wall are so irrational as to be laughable, if weren't for their zealousness that 'Unite the Right' brought to the fore last year.
When Trump initiated his 'Birther' campaign he became every racist's dream candidate, and nothing this un- convicted felon can do will shake the support of his base, unless he stops his doggedly racist support for the wall.
2
I try to be optimistic and figure that if we can focus the entire nation’s attention, including two, maybe all three branches of government, the media and most of the electorate, on a stupid, inconsequential wall, for weeks, months even, to the exclusion of everything else, things must be ok.
It is apparent that the option that Trump and his cohorts are taking is to claim victory and gradually fade from further discussion of this embarrassing subject, then create another crisis to divert people's attention and memory of how Trump's "Art of the Deal" made a mockery of him. For example, in two weeks, he must fly to Vietnam to "stop" another imaginary war with North Korea. By then people would have forgotten the stupid wall.
2
Why did Democrats give him anything?
Somehow it's a victory that we're only flushing $1.375 billion down the toilet this go-round? At a time of enormous deficits? Terrible policy.
11
@ER because dems are also for border protection. Don't worry, this money is not for a wall, but rather for fencing upgrades. Dens win this one, they offered him 25 billion last year, but the great deal maker refused.
3
Trump squandered two years in which he could have rammed through legislation for his signature mission: The Wall. If he could bow out of the presidency at the end of his term without looking like a pathetic loser, he would. He'd love to return to his cozy office at Trump Tower to run his boutique real estate business. Even one as ignorant as he must know that he is completely in over his head. He'll continue to put on his dog and pony show at his hokey rallies, but Trump has been eviscerated by Nancy Pelosi.
19
Wait..... Trump, isn’t that the guy who has illegal immigrants on his payroll?
Could someone E-verify that?
12
Ha, ha, so the doofus and self declared Master of The Deal the Oval Office can last a 10-round fight according the the right wing Heritage Foundation, while Nancy Pelosi can only fight one?
Pelosi is our version of the Iron Lady, albeit one from the left field, and can fight many more rounds that Herr Drumpf won't even be able to notice during his Executive Time.
14
His best face, really. His best face is one of racism, bigotry, narcissism, countless lies and ineptness. He brags about the "Art of the Deal" that someone wrote for him, only he neglected to read it. Speaker Pelosi outsmarted him because plain and simple the wall is a stupid idea. What's not smart, is why his base doesn't see him for what he is, an egotistical, self-centered, unstable individual. If they think he cares about them, they are sadly mistaken. It's all so tragic because he is dangerous.
14
@Sari unfortunantly it is because his base are all those things, racist, bigoted etc. He is letting them feel like those backward ideologies are OK, And actually better than other people's idealogies. It's sad and disgusting at the same time. He has reached into americas darkest pocket and made that normal, and used it for his own power grab.
What a sad, sad pathetic man 45 is.
Even sadder Fox Entertainment will spin this and declare victory still I’m sure - and his base will believe it. They’ll nod their heads and repeat how much safer they feel already.
What a waste of time, money and attention for this country.
14
One wonders when trump is so weak that he can't even stand up to Unelected Fools like Hanity and Coulter, how is he expected to have spine enough to stand up to Master Putin?
14
Nobody won anything. This is the Democrats leaning against the door while Trump and the rest of his low-browed, knuckle-dragging, club-carrying mob pound and push to bust in. Hide the silver!
These are a collection of racists, misogynists, bullies, and greed-mongers, and they want to make America look like them. Again.
8
Much as you wish it were so (him too), he's not a dictator folks. Deal with it.
2
Sure, let the president put lipstick on a pig; heck dress the pig in a tuxedo. It is still a pig.
The reality is that the Republicans did not fund the wall in the two years that they could have done so, as it was never one of their priorities. And that lack of commitment only weakened during the shutdown.
Yes, it is a giant loss for Trump in that it exposed the hidden fractures in the party, the truth that the GOP members in the House and Senate are not fully on board with Trump but have viewed him as a useful idiot, too popular to undermine openly. Once they find him not useful, just and idiot, there will be nothing to protect him from the possibility of impeachment.
This was never about the wall.
8
The Democrats figuratively and politically tasered the President. Kudos to the Democrats for controlling the rabid lying temporary occupant of the white house.
8
Lies will take him down........
5
Why are Trump supporters so stupid, self-centered, and amoral? What kind of culture produces such narrow-minded people in such large numbers? I know the answers but the question keeps running through my mind. How truly awful!!!
13
Poor, ignorant Trump! Still fails to see that he and his kind have reality to deal with, not reality TV episodes that lurch from one (scripted) setup to another. Time is long overdue for the parties to embrace their core duty and manage America as it deserves and stop creating crises and conflicts perceived (incorrectly) to be in their electoral interests alone.
5
"most punishing defeat Mr. Trump"!!?? What a silly statement.
1
This president has not even read the new bill, just like he never read the old bill. His executive time is spent watching talking head fools who live in alternative fact world pontificate nonsense to create more fear from voting fools and patsies who will vote against their own interests yet again and vote for the 1% to cut less regulation and pay less taxes. Honestly I have given up hope for 40% of this country ever having the brain power to see through the smoke and mirrors the GOP has been peddling for decades. The 40% who vote for the interests of the 1% will never change, just insert the "Boogieman Dejour" every 2 years around October and wallah we end up with more idiots doing the Koch Brothers and now Putin's bidding.
8
Aww too bad Trump, you're not getting $5 billion for your wall. You're not getting your military parade either. But, you may get a perp walk in an orange jumpsuit!!
8
I too was sucked in by this lying con man. I believed him when he told us that he would get Mexico to pay for it. Or he would stop those in the US from sending money back to Mexico from their work here if Mexico didn't. Why and how did it ever even get mentioned that Americans would pay for it? Ridiculous. Amnesia? He should be reminded in the media every time he mentions it.
4
Bob, you live in NY. You should have seen Trump lie and grift his way through the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s just like everyone else in NY did.
Further, what about his uninformed, meandering rants during his 2016 rallies made you think he had the knowledge, brains, or determination to see anything to completion? He can’t find his way to the end of a sentence!
I’m no Clinton fan, but honestly, I just can’t understand how so many voters believed that such an incompetent, lying, lonely, and very, very sad man was actually a can-do MAGA hero.
Well, I guess that’s why the Brooklyn Bridge gets sold a few times every day...
2
I believe this story was written long ago and in a very American way. Something called Moby Dick. There is truly nothing new under the sun.
3
@Chuck Burton
And the the Greek offering some 2400 years ago - The Republic - "When the electorate is poorly educated, the Republic will fail." Plato. Current HS drop out rate = 25%. Recent brilliant statement from one of today's young scholars: "Why should I learn all that stuff when I can just look it up."
President Lincoln, one of our most beloved presidents, said, "I am a slow walker, but I never walk back." President Trump -- undeniably our most unloved president-- has walked back his demented campaign promise to force Congress to finance his wall, fence, barrier of cement, steel spiked see-thru slats, bollards, to keep out undocumented immigrants. The same aliens without papers (from Central America) who have worked for decades at Donald Trump's elite golf clubs. Our President is the Red Queen, who has been running a hard as he could to just stay in place. By hook or crook, Trump will continue to lie and brag to his loyalists that he beat Congress into paying for his wall.
America's gun culture and the climate changes wrought by mankind on earth are the most pressing issues of today. We commemorate the Valentine's Day shooting of school kids in Parkland, FL, a year ago. We are sick to death of this dysfunctional president and only wish our honorable and beloved president like the 44th president from Illinois, was present today. This president is a loser. His lies, boasting and promise of securing our southern border with a "great, beautiful wall" to keep people of colour out of America is more fruit from his poison tree. Trump will continue to lie as long as he is in office.
211
@Nan Socolow
and as long as he lives. He has never been truthful. He doesn't know the meaning of honorable... He business disasters show it... Trump University, Atlantic City, his deal in Scotland and even his bone-spurs. How did American fall this low?
29
@Nan Socolow And will continue to lie, as long until he breathes his last breath, and can no longer use his little twitter fingers.
7
@Nan Socolow Wasn't the campaign promise that Mexico would pay for the wall, not Congress?
5
Trump has never been a great negotiator as well documented bankruptcies have shown. However what I find scary about his situation is the influence of the unelected Limbaugh, Hannity, Ingrams, Coulter, Dobbs to name a few. Are they running the Presidency of an unqualified man? He needs their opinions to make a decision. Well, the shutdown was not successful according to the voters. But I really doubt he can move to other areas like climate change, infrastructure, guns, health care and etc. The same individuals that made him shutdown will not let this happen. So have we unknowingly elected several people not just Trump.
25
President Trump uses these conservative media figures to take the pulse of his base. he needs to keep his base happy and engaged, because their votes are necessary for continued Republican hegemony. the real GOP constituents - the ultra wealthy and the politically beyond the fringe - are far too few in number to ever win an election, so they rely on hoodwinking the audence of right wing media to stay in power. this is obviously a shaky structure, and it seems even Trump knows it. plus, all this brouhaha over the wall is Team Trump's major program of distraction from the legal and ethical issues coming down on his administration like an avalanche. and that, kiddies, is the importance of self-appointed agents provocateurs.
1
With Fox News personalities now having become Trump’s most influential unofficial advisors, and the Sinclair family telecommunications conglomerate shamelessly currying favor with Trump to circumvent “concentration of media ownership” and dictate right-wing editorial content in the most Orwellian way, we are in dire need of a reboot of the FCC’s now defunct “Fairness Doctrine,” as never before. It is no wonder that Dan Rather and other respected journalists have described what is happening as “an assault on our democracy.” That is exactly what it is.
33
Defeat? Not likely. Trump still plans to have his way, and aims to steal the money for his wall from funds earmarked for other projects, including emergency funds to Puerto Rico. He has no right to circumvent Congress, which is the only branch of government with the right and power to allocate spending. Congress must step in to prevent Trump from plundering funds that he has no right to.
23
Governing is the art of compromise. The Republicans don’t know how, have no desire to and simply cannot govern. No exception here.
eg ...instead of telling us what they propose they oppose everything coming out of a creative and positive Democratic led Congress.they oppose They always oppose and they ONLY oppose.
And they ran the country the past 2 years. Want to know why they are doomed?
Trump Care anyone?
4
Trump said hundreds of times that Mexico would pay for the wall, that it would be easy to force them to. So why has he abandoned that tactic in favor of forcing American taxpayers to pay for something a majority does not even want?
9
easy one! President Trump is so addled he cannot tell the difference between the country of Mexico and American taxpayers. but WE can.
Can we please wait until after Trump signs the compromise before we start saying "It was arguably the most punishing defeat President Trump has experienced in office. "
5
The whole wall/fence issue makes it clear that Trump's deal making and salesman skills are merely figments of his imagination. Business deals never survive where only one side wins and wins. Although the truth may be that one side always wins more, they make sure that the other party to the deal believes they also got what they wanted. Otherwise there is no hope for any future deal.
Find it funny that so many who complain about the illegal immigrant would not have the life style they do if it were not for these people doing the jobs we no longer wish to do. Even Trump and probably Meadows have benefited from these people being here.
6
I don’t understand why the right is angry. There is ample evidence that a Trump border wall will do nothing to prevent migrants from crossing into the U.S., and also the rate of illegal crossings has declined dramatically over the last 20 years. This is a problem that mostly exists in people’s imaginations. It’s just mind boggling.
8
If you want to predict what Trump will do, think about what the perception will be in the echo chamber of his base. It doesn't matter if it succeeds, as long as it is sufficiently mean spirited or permits him to play the victim to "libs", or a feckless judiciary. He has been talking about Emergency Powers. Although this probably won't succeed, and will make Republicans who believe in, at least, a temporary future unhappy, he may well do it. Being tied up in court would play to his narrative and he can cow congressional Republicans who oppose him. They get to present the narrative that the fault lies with the Democrats. Similarly, diverting money from California disaster relief, also proposed, will play well to his base, which hates CA, and will cost him nothing in a state he cannot win in 2020.
4
I find myself wondering why Democrats give even an inch - Republicans showed during the Obama era that they would rather stall government then do the same. The worst part is that up to 30% of the country applauded them.
And ultimately, to what end? POTUS is already lying that they are building the wall now. I imagine that he'll continue to lie to the public that the wall was built, was beautiful, huge, etc. - regardless of what is actually done.
You couldn't script a better reality show. Too bad it can't be cancelled before four seasons air.
9
Donald thinks he can find pots of money? Where? The debt is 23,000 BILLION dollars and rising.
5
@FilmMD
Sadly, it’s 22 TRILLION.
1
"Mr. Trump and his aides claimed victory"
The "wall" has never been about any kind of security - everybody knows it. Its all about the right "counting coup".
2
No. He’s not where he was. He’s now been offered 1.4 billion. That’s less than the 1.6 he had last time.
What I don't get is why the efforts to build a boondoggle wall have to continue. Right wingers aren't going to abandon trump, who else can they turn to? Can Mike Lee or Ted Cruz inspire the same white grievance passions, is David Duke available? While it's clearly time to move on, including to immigration reform, is this one-trick pony president capable of doing that?
1
"With the wall, they want to be stingy,” Mr. Trump complained about Speaker Nancy Pelosi"
He'd better be careful what he says, don't want to tick off Speaker Pelosi, she just might have a wall that has the appearance of a white picket fence with rose bushes planted the length of the border.
2
Republicans need to take a deep breath and consider exactly what they, as a Political Party, consider important. I would like to know what IS their most important reason for being because, I’m not impressed with what I am seeing and hearing.
I’m a Texan and know many people who voted for the current President. As if they are reading from the same cue card, they all say, WE DON’T NEED NO WALL. Before you ask, they still support him, but their support is harder and harder to justify, especially by the ones with serious health issues.
Leaders of other countries have figured out the President’s style and techniques and have gone from knee-jerk respect in the beginning to modest eye-rolls and sighs now, after two years of Trumpian shenanigans.
He reminds me of a huge toddler with the remote.
5
@Dkhatt You and other Texans Dkhatt would be advised to take a look at Trump´s record in failed businesses, in pssing away all his inheritance and other peoples money on anything he touches. He is a charlaton and a conman.
1
To the base it shows the Democrats care more about people out of the country than in it. So no change there.
1
@Stefan,
But president bone spurs hires more undocumented workers than anyone else in 'Merica.
1
Dems caved. They let Trump claim that he is building the Wall by funding it with over a billion dollars. I guess Dems must have got something in that 1300 page bill to assuage their donors, but they lost the propaganda battle.
@SF "Dems caved." Really? If, as you claim, the Democrats "caved," then why are the right-wing pundits so upset with the deal? I never cease to be amazed at the inability of Trump supporters to face reality. In this situation, the reality is that Emperor Donald was just handed his first -- and it won't be his last -- major defeat by Nancy Pelosi and her liberal Democrat allies in the House of Representatives.
I would like to preface this post by saying how much of a fan I am of the New York Times. I've been a subscriber for quite some time now, because the quality of impartial and objective articles is without compare.
That said, this article seems to lack the objectivity that is the norm for this site, beyond that it seems that it was written to goad a response from a leader who is obsessed with self-image.
We all watched as the right wing pundits almost directly cause the longest partial government shutdown the US has even seem, all by calling Trump "weak". This article seems like the Time's attempt to do something very similar, confident that another shutdown would hurt the GOP.
We all know that Trump can be goaded down an illogical path, that's how his whole campaign came about, but it's not your role to prove that to the US public. You're never going to convert his supporters, and all you are doing is muddying the waters by sinking to his level.
The New York Time is better than that...
1
"Mr. Trump’s inability to reach a satisfying deal despite the negotiating experience he regularly touted on the campaign trail suggested that any aspirations of collaboration across party lines may be even more elusive than he had imagined."
This is an understatement! And the problem lies within Mr. Trump himself, who views "negotiations" and "compromise," as expectations that the other side will give him everything he asks for.
He was spoiled during his first two years with no pushback whatsoever. And throughout his touted business career, he was a one-man band who expected adversaries to bend to his will, with varying results including having them usually pick up the tab.
I think this is the first time Donald Trump has ever had to work to achieve his goals, in terms of compromise. It's hard to change anyone who has always gotten his way one way or the other, especially at age 72.
One would hope he would learn, but again, he seems impervious to the fact, respecting challenges, like walls, if you can't get over them or around them, you must go through them.
18
Donald Trump has hit a wall. It's looking like Manafort was a Russian agent when Trump hired him as campaign manager. Expect some big distractions.
28
So funny to see the Liar in the ‘’Agony of defeat ‘’. May it be repeated often...
19
“Andy Surabian, a former Trump White House aide, said the details do not matter to the president’s base as much as his determination to fulfill his promise. “His supporters don’t care about how the rest of the wall is built,” he said. “They just care that the wall is ultimately built.””
The stupid wall will never be built. Next year’s budget won’t include wall funding either, and in 2021 Trump will be replaced by a Democrat who will drop the whole idiotic idea.
31
@Demosthenes
trrump care?
opioids?
coal mining jobs?
big "beautiful" fax machine factories?
promises made.....
ahhh...but THE wall.
rubbish pure rubbish Like the man himself.
3
The power of the loyal followers of right wing media
4
@chris brooks - the "power of the loyal followers" is looking less and less powerful.
I can't believe he really even cares about this idiotic issue beyond its symbolic value to his racist base in hating immigrants. Hatred is not policy, and when it forced to be the results are not good for anyone. It's like trying to stop drug use with a policy of "just say no." Hopefully, the Democrats will win in 2020 and enact an immigration policy that gives preference to our neighbors crossing the border to work as they have done for over 200 hundred years. If we actually knew who people were, they and their employers would pay taxes, a boon to our country. As for asylum seekers, we may need to help the countries they are fleeing from, so they can prosper at home. No one wants to flee home whether on foot or on a rickety boat.
20
Well, the fanatics have already got walls in their heads - for free.
10
Awesome lede!
2
From "speak softly but carry a big stick" to "waddle loudly and carry a tv remote."
Thanks again electoral college.
38
"What a way fo run a railroad."
5
"Instead of Mexico directly paying for a $25 billion, 1,000-mile concrete barrier, as the president once said would happen,..."
Seriously? "...as the president once said would happen..."? ONCE? How about "hundreds if not thousands of times during his campaign"? How about "incessantly over the course of more than a year"?
Please harp on the following...
- Trump's fantasy that he could appropriate funds from a sovereign nation should is evidence of his stupidity.
- He could build his wall, and as long as one penny comes from U.S. coffers, it would still be a promise unkept.
The wall has become Trump's holy grail -- and all of America suffers a medieval man chasing a medieval symbol.
16
And what vote do the 111 endangered species get that pass between the US and Mexico?
16
Don't count this slime ball out yet. He's intent on a visible monument to his presidency, like a Russian Berlin Wall or China's Great Wall. He'll corrupt anything to get it to save his vanity.
Speaking of Trump promises: Where is the "easy pizzie Healthcare he promised" everyone, the Mexico pesos to pay for his promised wall, the "Great Negotiator Deals" that all before him failed to get?
Speaker Pelosi, please continue to govern for all Americans' best interests.
24
Trumplicans are attempting the classic political maneuver of putting lipstick on a pig. Estée Lauder, Revlon, maybelline and Mary Kay combined don’t have that much lipstick.
12
Once again the Freedom Caucus takes "a moral stance." When their fearless leader promised to have Mexico pay for the wall and then went back on his word the whole matter should have died. Not with this toady group that will stand by their leader no matter what. Boris and Natasha would have been so proud.
12
Forget about the wall Mr. Trump... you lost. How about fulfilling that campaign promise... ya know better and cheaper healthcare for all Americans???
12
@MLB
ha ha ha ha
you think he even remembers? or cares?
3
Trump has to face down Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, his kitchen cabinet from fox news. Actually more an informerical lobbying program than news. Yes Mr President, you will have to bone up and face the wrath of your basis extremis. Barry
3
You forgot president Coulter. She’s really really mad.
1
Forget about the wall Mr. Trump... you lost. How about fulfilling that other campaign promise... ya know better and cheaper healthcare for all Americans???
4
He called 2 despicable liars on faux news to ask their forgiveness. What have we become!
13
"Assuage an Angry Right". That speaks volumes of where America is. Republicans always try to assuage their fringe elements while Liberals run away from their fringe elements.
America is mediocre because the Liberal media allows the angry right wing white men have their day, but the knives are out for Liberals who step out of line.
6
So much winning. What a collosal waste of time.
5
As some others here have commented on, I was struck by this:
The President of the US finds it necessary to “reach out” to TV journalists, basically to beg their pardon. What in the h...is going on? Who elected Hannity, Dobbs, et.el.? Even though they have a following, they still speak for a minority.
When Trump was elected, i disagreed with those saying “he’s not MY president”. Now, I’ve changed my opinion...this guy Trump represents nothing that I believe in. Trump is not the legitimate representative of the United States.
17
"...Instead of Mexico directly paying for a $25 billion, 1,000-mile concrete barrier, as the president once said would happen..."
Minor point: he didn't "once" say it. It was as recognizable a mantra as "Make America Great Again."
8
Trump will sign the bill because he knows there are many in the Republican Senate who have been waiting for a chance to defy him. They don’t have the guts to do it individually but as a group they will override his veto.
7
The wall is a political joke. Mexico is not paying, the republicans could have passed money for it for two years, but didn't, turn down 25 billion, then when democrats have the house it is now important enough to shut down the government.
9
I still see a simple solution to this impasse. Let the President fund the wall with his personal funds (my goodness, there's only $23.63B left!) and have Congress allow the President to brand the wall. Maybe even modify the IRS code to consider it a charitable donation.
He can then brag that he is now competing with the Great Wall of China.
Make America Great Again.
6
If this is the worst defeat that president Trump has suffered I'd say he is doing pretty well. With the $1.375 billion from the government and all of El Chapo's seized assets, we will have more than the amount of money president Trump originally requested for border security. I'd say this was a major win for the Republicans. But this is just my opinion, you can have your own, just let me have mine.
1
@Davin LOL Trump's goal was not the money. It was to try to prove to his base that he is a great negotiator. His base doesn't really care one whit about the wall. They simply like the fight and sticking it to the Dems. Well, there are those members of his base who actually believe what he said at the latest rally, that the wall is being built RIGHT NOW! so...
3
@Davin - a couple of small problems with this idea.....first, that $14B figure is wildly overblown and secondly, the money is in Mexico! Given trumps ongoing comments about that country how much would they be inclined to hand it over?
2
@Rennie Carter The problem with that is that even though the left has been in favor of border fencing before. Just because it is Trump they are saying no even though they have approved it before they make it difficult to try to put Trump on the media in a negative light. You say that Trump's base doesn't care about the wall, that is simply not true. I have friend and family that have been affected by the lack of security on the U.S., Mexican border. Both drugs and criminals go through with relative ease making the US a more dangerous place. And while yes, the majority of immigrants are nice people, legal or illegal, some will still commit atrocious crimes and bring over drugs. It does not matter how good of a negotiator you are if someone refuses to listen. But this is just my opinion, you can have your own, just let me have mine.
President Hannity is very upset. He is letting everyone know that they have some 'splaining to do and people, like his chief operative Donald Trump, are going to have to answer to him.
President Coulter is upset that her aid and adviser, Donald Trump, is failing her test. She threatens to fire him.
She says “Only in Washington, D.C., can we start out with needing $25 billion for border security measures and expect applause when we come up with $1.37 billion,”
First it should be noted that the Democrats did offer that long ago but it was turned down by Trump because the Democrats sought resolution to the DACA problem as well. Second it should be noted that while it was said the wall would cost $25 B Trump wasn't asking for all $25 at this time, so it was never going to be a $25 B deal not matter what.
9
And here I was, thinking we’re all really going to see how the master of “negotiation” and “deal making” performs in a situation that’s actually of some importance. Silly me.
Instead, we find a man who may be okay when browbeating suppliers of materials and labor for buildings paid for by other people’s money but is totally out of his depth when he suddenly realizes he does not have total control.
9
That's rich. Representative Meadows calling Congress dysfunctional when it was there that a compromise was hammered out. The only dysfunctional branch of government in this case sits in the oval office.
5
I am reading the biography of John Adams by David McCullough following upon other excellent accounts of the founding of our nation. Boy, were the founding fathers worried about creating a bully with article 2. It seems that POTUS-as-bully with happened despite their best efforts. Why should one man decide whether or not 800,000 hard working people get their paychecks? The federal government is not a small business. POTUS has way too much power. And the bizarre, exhausting, two year long marathon culminating in a reality TV like convention for selecting POTUS eliminates 99.9% of the truly qualified candidates leaving only misfits as "last man or woman standing." Think of the fortune and time and effort that has been squandered on unfit presidents. We are in trouble and I fear for my grandchildren because the issues are systemic that can only be solved when there is comite, tolerance, and forebearance in government, of which there is a hint described in this article.
9
Trump and the Republicans don’t really want a wall. They want the issue. America’s demographics are changing. Look on the Democratic side of the House of Representatives. That’s America in 2019. So the Republicans need an issue to remind their supporters ( who really do want a wall) to be afraid of the “other,” because they will take all the jobs, as if Americans really want the jobs immigrants are willing to do.
11
But has Trump learned his lesson? Stay tune till Friday.
11
@William. Trump doesn't learn, anything. His brain doesn't work that way. He takes what he wants, and if he doesn't get it, he gets revenge. That is Trump in a nutshell.
1
It started out as an applause line inserted in campaign "speeches" that would keep Trump on topic -- nefarious immigration -- at his own rallies. And he worked it good, he baited the hook well and landed the fish. And then the wall became his Maginot Line, an expensive nothingburger that offered a false sense of security to people who live hundreds of miles away from the border. People who live near the border, like me, do not want it and know that a dumb idea is a dumb idea.
But the Narcissist in Chief convinced himself that he could get his wall by force of will (read: displays of ego). He would hold rallies. He would go on tv. He would lie faster and harder. He would stoke fear as fear has never been stoked before.
Then he got his head handed to him by a woman. ¡A woman! As we say in Texas, ¡Yee Haw! And now the Trump Administration is a pool of sludgy inertia, a slough of despond, just in time for the Mueller Report! And the middle class getting bad news in their tax returns! It is all so perfect.
Of course, what matters now is how the base feels about ol' Donny Boy (Oh Donny Boy, the base, the base is calling...). The overwhelming sense is that Trump has spent the last two years actually getting worse at his job.
49
In fact, I am not yet tired of winning!
4
Mr. Trump continues to take a head long run at the same obstacle over and over again.
The wall.
He's renamed it. Refinanced it. Resurrected it again and again.
He wants to rid America of the brown invaders.
Republican politicians, presumably not stupid people, continue to support the president in his insane quest.
The republicans continue to lie to the American people about the wall.
Just as they lie about the economy. Just as they lie about climate change. Just as they lie about guns.
Just as they lie and obstruct investigations into the misdeeds of their president.
Do the people who believe these transparent lies do so because they are willfully uninformed? Surely not all of them.
Glassy eyed ideologists? Probably not all of them.
Unwilling to admit they were wrong about the republican party and Donald Trump? Maybe.
"Look at the tyranny of party -- at what is called party allegiance, party loyalty -- a snare invented by designing men for selfish purposes -- and which turns voters into chattels, slaves, rabbits, and all the while their masters, and they themselves are shouting rubbish about liberty, independence, freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, honestly unconscious of the fantastic contradiction; and forgetting or ignoring that their fathers and the churches shouted the same blasphemies a generation earlier..."
- "The Character of Man," inserted in autobiographical dictation 23 January 1906. Autobiography of Mark Twain.
18
... in office two years... take out one hand and count on your fingers the number of “deals” he’s closed for this nation.. you won’t need many digits.
9
“Among those involved in the outreach, according to the person briefed on the discussions, was Bill Shine, a White House deputy chief of staff and former Fox executive who in the West Wing is seen as adept at getting some hosts at Fox to respond to White House concerns.”
Wow, this is some real 3-D chess we got here, folks.
9
@Gordon
Deploying resources to keep your own propaganda network on your side is traditionally considered a bad sign.
Maybe the POTUS should read The Art of the Deal, I hear you learn everything there is to know about negotiations.
17
@Erik. Good one. Unfortunately, Trump doesn't read. Reportedly, even pictures barely hold his attention, and don't for very long.
3
@Erik - NOW that is a great idea! Oh, wait a minute, I forgot........he didn't write it.
"...it was arguably the most punishing defeat Mr. Trump has experienced...and it left the White House...rethinking its approach to a Congress now partly controlled by Democrats."
Sorry, NYT, too euphemistic. Just cut to the chase. He shot himself in the foot. You can't put lipstick on that particular pig.
“...we have options that most people don’t really understand.”
Do you now? I doubt it but if so, why weren't they explored before the shutdown?
""I think he handled it as well as anybody could handle it, given a dysfunctional Congress,” Mr. Meadows told reporters."
So says the man whose intransigence was responsible for fragmenting his party's "unity" on support for a deal they could have had when the Democrats had no say in the matter.
"At one point last year, the president and Democrats were close to a deal in which he would get all $25 billion for the wall in exchange for protections for 1.8 million young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children."
Brilliant dealmaking by a delusional master of negotiation whose myopia blinded him to the fact that he'd won, only to snatch defeat from from the jaws of victory.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy...
24
"Mr. hannity, mr. trump is here to see you and grovel...and as agreed, he brought his own knee pads."
"Make him wait 15 minutes then show him in."
9
"...it was arguably the most punishing defeat Mr. Trump has experienced...and it left the White House...rethinking its approach to a Congress now partly controlled by Democrats."
Sorry, NYT, too euphemistic. Just cut to the chase. He shot himself in the foot. You can't put lipstick on that particular pig.
“...we have options that most people don’t really understand.”
Do you now? I doubt it but if so, why weren't they explored before the shutdown?
""I think he handled it as well as anybody could handle it, given a dysfunctional Congress,” Mr. Meadows told reporters."
So says the man whose intransigence was responsible for fragmenting his party's "unity" on support for a deal they could have had when the Democrats had no say in the matter.
"At one point last year, the president and Democrats were close to a deal in which he would get all $25 billion for the wall in exchange for protections for 1.8 million young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children."
Brilliant dealmaking by a delusional master of negotiation whose myopia blinded him to the fact that he'd won, only to snatch defeat from from the jaws of victory.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy...
2
meadows says trump handled it well.
Excuse me.
Handled what well?
Two years of having all the power
No wall.
Days of Pelosi and the democrats.
No wall.
Treating American Federal employees with utter contempt and disdain, unpaid.
No wall.
Scrabbling like a dog for the praise of coulter and the voice of the base.
No wall.
Even an asprising asylum seeking child, ripped apart from its parents, lost and afraid, could have negotiated this deal.
No wall.
Dear base. Has your president ever delivered on anything? Except tax cuts for the rich and tax rises for the ordinary guy.
No wall.
Believe in reality tv. Get reality tv. A cartoon president and a cartoon wall.
No trump wall.
What a sad figure of a master bankrupt, corrupt, deal welching fool.
Winning gop style.
32
"...it was arguably the most punishing defeat Mr. Trump has experienced...and it left the White House...rethinking its approach to a Congress now partly controlled by Democrats."
Sorry, NYT, too euphemistic. Just cut to the chase. He shot himself in the foot. You can't put lipstick on that particular pig.
“...we have options that most people don’t really understand.”
Do you now? I doubt it but if so, why weren't they explored before the shutdown?
""I think he handled it as well as anybody could handle it, given a dysfunctional Congress,” Mr. Meadows told reporters."
So says the man whose intransigence was responsible for fragmenting his party's "unity" on support for a deal they could have had when the Democrats had no say in the matter.
"At one point last year, the president and Democrats were close to a deal in which he would get all $25 billion for the wall in exchange for protections for 1.8 million young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children."
Brilliant dealmaking by a delusional master of negotiation whose myopia blinded him to the fact that he'd won, only to snatch defeat from from the jaws of victory.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy...
1
Boy, that is some world class negotiator in the White House
Scary to think what he will give away to North Korea at the end of the month.
14
The FAR RIGHT! Intemperate language coming up here, New York Times--sorry!
But how despicable they are. Totally despicable.
Mr. Trump--love him or hate him--is President of the United States of America. The ENTIRE Unites States of America.Three hundred MILLION of us--and still counting. Scattered over the fifty states of the Union.
The hard right is a minority. A very loud--very angry--very aggressive minority. Small? No. But a minority nonetheless.
And being what he is, OF COURSE, Mr. Trump found himself "between a rock and a hard place."
He CANNOT simply allow this entire US government to crash and burn. He CANNOT (like Nero, supposedly) lean back strumming his lyre, singing songs to placate the far right--while the entire country goes up in flames.
"Between a rock and a hard place." The so-called wall was NEVER about reality. It was NEVER about border security--GENUINE border security. No wonder those ballyhooed talks with the Democrats went nowhere. There was nowhere for them to go.
The wall, as Ms. Pelosi pointed out, "was a campaign line." Nothing more--nothing less.
And now--like spoiled, over-indulged children--the far right howls and stamps and flings its toys across the room.
'Cause they simply cannot DICTATE to the whole country what the whole country ought to do.
Let 'em go stand in a corner for a while. Try and get over it.
While the rest of the country goes about the business--
--of being a country.
5
Trump's base and the right-wing talking heads should be reminded that the Republicans had the majority in the House and Senate for the first two years of Trump's presidency and they did NOTHING regarding trying to get funding for the wall. And we're still waiting for Trump's "best healthcare" plan to replace the ACA. The Republicans cannot govern. All they know how to do is obstruct.
16
A shameless self-promoter is always going to shamelessly self-promote, but facts are stubborn things, and for many of his 2016 voters, his act has grown tired. He has a 40 percent ceiling and, in the absence of enough third-party voters, his chances for re-election, like his approval ratings, are underwater.
11
"dysfunctional Congress" = non-Republican Congress?
1
Here in a deep red state the voters will follow along with Trump reasoning as sheep going to the abattoir.
7
Everyone with a scintilla of good sense knows this wall is a fatuous dream, utterly worthless and an insult to a friendly neighbor. The president’s efforts to get his way are sheer farce; the tragedy is that while he spins his wheels on this idiotic campaign promise, other more urgent problems are being ignored. It’s far past time for Republicans, not Mrs. Pelosi, to bring him to heel.
6
Trump wants a wall to be a monument to his greatness. He has promoted fear and hatred in a portion of the population who now believe that we need to be 'saved' from rapists, drug dealers, M-13 gang members and criminals. He started this nonsense as a campaign promise. Trump's version of educating the country 'about troubles at the border' is packed with lies.
Trump spends hours watching TV every day. What kind of 'presidential leader' gets ideas from watching Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity? Trump wilts under the comments made by Anne Coulter.
God help us if he takes money away from other programs [except the bloated military] or declares a worthless national emergency.
We do not need a wall that is a waste of money. Drugs are mostly coming in through ports of entry. Most undocumented immigrants are here by overstaying their visas. It is legal to apply for amnesty.
6
What happened to the Donald Trump who said,
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters”?
Now he's afraid of losing voters over a wall. He sounds weak and vulnerable.
2
He stole from a charity!
You don't do that if you're a good businessman...PERIOD!
6
Appease the right? They want a worthless vanity wall so they can still have illegals work for them. They don’t won’t a real fix to the immigration system anymore than they want a real president. So go ahead keep feeding them lies. He will. What I want to know is when the president will go to jail for all the lies? I have had it with the consequence free GOP.
8
In the end, Trump is going down. Bank on it !!
2
Donald Trump, star of the new series, "Making America GRATE Again!" He just keeps playing the same part, a two-bit actor in the sleaziest, trashiest shows ever to appear on the American stage. Is there no class, decency, moral fiber among his "agents," Miller, Hannity et al, to steer him to a loftier role? I sure wish this were a fairy tale we were seeing, rather than a soap opera. Then, we could expect a happy ending.
1
The art of no deal.
6
Meadows complains about a dysfunctional congress that doesn't do the president's bidding. Perhaps someone should show him the constitution--it isn't dysfunctional, it is how our government is designed--check and balances. The GOP had full control of congress to fund their stupid wall--why didn't they do it then? Because the GOP can't govern their way out of a paper bag.
3
America needs much stronger immigration control.
Trump promised that, but has been weak on delivery,
partly due to his own personality and style,
and also partly due to his own shortcomings in political savvy,
much of which has alienated many Repubs.
On the other hand, many Repubs, in and out of Congress,
carry water for the pro-cheap-labor business crowd who have always acted in UnHoly Alliance with Dems in selling America down the river into open borders.
Those Repubs have always had their own agenda --
less taxes, especially less taxes on the affluent,
and less government business regulation,
including heath care,
including a single-minded obsession with repealing Obamacare.
During his first two years,
Trump did his share of heavy lifting in trying to help
establishment Repubs, in and out of Congress,
achieve their agenda.
But in return, he got only a tepid response on immigration
from many establishment Repubs.
In 2017-18, their strong position in Congress
could have enabled Trump to deliver on much of his signature campaign issue --- strong immigration control.
But establishment Repubs in Congress did not deliver.
Trump not only got elected in 2016,
to the surprise of many,
not only among Dems but also among Repubs,
Trump also provided the Repubs with a strong coattails in 2016
to deliver strong majorities to the Repubs in Congress,
especially in the House.
So they got their tax reductions
and business deregulation,
and a big boost in military spending.
They owe him.
1
It is only after the changed political complexion of the Congress specially the assertive Democratic majority of the House that has actually forced Trump to see reason and realise the real cost both political and material of his campaign rhetoric about the border wall. Now following the embarrassing shutdown fiasco, even before it is too late he has started sending right signals on the fate of the compromise bipartisan deal. The proverbial camel has ultimately come near the high mountain of wall resistance.