By Matthew Vadum -- Front Page Mag——Bio and Archives--December 14, 2018
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Since the day he announced his White House candidacy, President Trump has wielded calls for a border wall as a political cudgel, a bargaining chip and a rallying cry — a tangible symbol, if completed, of his nationalist aim to ‘Make America Great Again.’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.” Conservative writer Ann Coulter tweeted that the president holds “all the cards” in the negotiations but gave the odds at 50-50 that he would “cave.” “If he doesn’t at least force a shutdown for some time, I don’t see how he can go into 2020 and blame Democrats” over the wall, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. “Everyone would say, ‘Of course, they are your opponents, but you didn’t really even try.’” Trump’s drive to secure the border was highlighted in a dramatic Oval Office meeting this week with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). It was a fine example of political theater that, in Nakamura’s words, “stunned a Beltway political class that has grown accustomed to Trump’s daily bouts of showmanship.”
Because the people of this country don’t want criminals and people that have lots of problems and drugs pouring into this country. So I will take the mantle, I will be the one to shut it down. I won’t blame you for it.Democrats still haven’t recovered from the shock of being humiliated and outmaneuvered live on nationwide television by someone they routinely deride as a dimwitted blowhard. After the meeting Schumer urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to rein Trump in. “It is difficult, if nearly impossible, to negotiate with a president in front of the press who peddles such blatant and dangerous falsehoods,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “And because Leader Pelosi and I simply didn't go along with him, President Trump threw a temper tantrum and promised to shut the government unless he got what he wanted.”
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Matthew Vadum, matthewvadum.blogspot.com, is an investigative reporter.
His new book Subversion Inc. can be bought at Amazon.com (US), Amazon.ca (Canada)
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