John Harwood: “In today’s extraordinarily-fractious, on-camera Oval Office session with Congressional Democratic leaders, Trump highlighted his own vulnerability. First, he repeated his false claim in early morning tweets that his long-sought U.S-Mexico border wall has largely been built, with the Pentagon poised to complete it even if Congress won’t provide financing.”
“That telegraphed his expectation that lawmakers won’t include wall funding in the year-end spending bill needed to keep government open. Anticipating defeat undercuts Republican leaders who’ve demanded that funding on Trump’s behalf.”
“Trump hobbled his own cause further by trying to strike an unyielding pose.”
Washington Post: “For Trump, who once boasted he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose supporters, the fight over the wall has reached a moment of truth as he confronts the reality that, with Democrats poised to control the House in January, this could be his last chance to make good on a promise that has become an existential part of his presidency.”
