President Donald Trump did himself no favors on Tuesday morning as he declared his unwillingness to “cave” on his wall, which means the government shutdown will continue despite efforts by Democrats to end it.
Even though experts have made it clear that a wall is too expensive and won’t be effective at stopping crime and drugs, Trump insisted that it will drop crimes rate throughout the nation:
Without a Wall our Country can never have Border or National Security. With a powerful Wall or Steel Barrier, Crime Rates (and Drugs) will go substantially down all over the U.S. The Dems know this but want to play political games. Must finally be done correctly. No Cave!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019
This means the government shutdown is going to drag on as it enters day 32 with no end in sight.
Clearly, Trump is unable to stop telling the same lies in defense of his wall. The fact is that undocumented immigrants commit crime at a lesser rate than natural born American citizens, and the number of migrants crossing the border illegally has dropped to historic lows, all without Trump’s wall.
Trump offered Democrats what he called a “compromise” on Saturday by giving them a three-year reprieve for DACA recipients and refugees covered by temporary protected status, both of which Trump moved to end earlier in his presidency. The problem is that it’s not a “compromise” at all. Trump’s wall would be permanent while these programs could be ended in three years or held hostage by Trump to get his way should he be re-elected in 2020.
That’s simply not a fair deal and Trump knows it. Furthermore, Democrats have said that they want the government shutdown to end first before negotiations on border security and his wall can go forward, thus removing the specter of shutdowns as a negotiation tactic from Trump’s playbook because if they cave he would shut the government down every time he doesn’t get his way.
It’s pretty obvious that Trump has two choices. He can offer permanent status to DACA recipients and refugees covered by TPS in exchange for the $5.7 billion he wants for his wall, similar to a deal he rejected last summer when he was offered $25 billion for his wall. And frankly, Democrats should get a lot more in the deal like renewing the Violence Against Women Act, which expired because Republicans refused to take action to renew it.
Or, Trump can just re-open the government by signing the bills already passed by the House and then negotiate for his wall without blame for the shutdown hanging over him. Americans are still going to remember that it’s his shutdown. After all, he took complete ownership of it in December before it even began and has been desperately trying to shift the blame to Democrats ever since. But at least he can be seen as trying to work with Democrats and could therefore win back some support he lost among moderate and independent voters, which he will definitely need in 2020.
But as long as he continues to double down on Twitter, there’s no way this shutdown will end and there’s no way Trump and the Republicans will escape the wrath of American voters come election time.
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