Shutting down Trump

[O]ver the weekend, senior aides — such as White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, legislative affairs head Marc Short and budget director Mick Mulvaney — and Republican congressional leaders cautioned Trump against negotiating with Schumer, arguing the New York Democrat is in a tough spot and will ultimately have to capitulate. At least some of these people have told Trump that Schumer is facing internal pressure from his own members, seeming to buoy the president, who hates seeming “weak.”

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When House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) spoke with Trump on Saturday, he told the president that Democrats had taken an “unreasonable” stance and were in an untenable situation, according to a person familiar with the call. Ryan urged the president not to negotiate any sort of deal that includes protections for undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children, known as “dreamers,” until the government has been reopened. The president seemed to agree, this person said.

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Privately, some of his closest advisers admit the president is an erratic dealmaker who can unexpectedly overturn negotiations like a flimsy coffee table.

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Aides and advisers also reminded Trump of the perils of getting too deeply involved at this point, noting Congress is more unpopular than him and talking about some of the unpleasant experiences he has had negotiating with Capitol Hill.

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“You kind of want, by your lack of presence, to highlight this being a case of congressional incompetence, as opposed to presidential incompetence, and how you do that is by carefully managing your appearances. The more he appears in public, the more this becomes a Trump problem.”

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Trump suppressed his instincts and did not call Schumer, advisers said, and was buoyed by aides doing a full television blitz — a public strategy partially prepared by West Wing officials who were worried that Trump would be inclined to strike a deal quickly if the media coverage turned poor.

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Whether Trump remains in his behind-the-scenes role is unclear — he is “itching” to be involved and constantly watching TV, according to a senior White House official. One adviser who speaks to Trump frequently said he “always wants a deal.”

  WaPo

And may not personally care what that deal is.

As Trump has watched the nonstop television coverage of the shutdown, he has bounced from grousing to aides that he will be blamed for the shutdown, to asking aloud if he should try to end it, to saying Republicans are in a better spot than Democrats and citing polls that show as much.

Whatever his handlers are being paid, it's not a tenth of what they're earning.

He complained about not going to Florida for the weekend, where the first anniversary of his inauguration was to be feted with a lavish gala, while also telling advisers his administration was doing better on handling the shutdown than Obama’s did in 2013.

Which, really is the bottom line. It's also how he got into this mess by campaigning to overturn everything Obama did, but having no idea how to do that and tossing the ball to Congress to figure it out.

Trump has previously said that presidents deserve the blame for a shutdown, particularly President Obama, and that they are a failure of presidential leadership.

Lucky for him, he's not averse to flipping and lying.

The president has also grown intimately involved in trying to shape the media coverage, commenting on TV appearances, watching hours of footage, and remarking to friends how the shutdown is playing.

TV, where Chuck Schumer is aiming his darts.

“Only Trump,” can end the shutdown, Schumer said on the Senate floor Sunday. “He has a love for the dreamers, let him show it.”

Give those handlers hazard pay.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.