"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. The message: Mr. Trump deserved support because he still forced concessions that he would never have gotten without a five-week partial government shutdown."Yes, here's what the Great Negotiator managed to do as far as those "concessions":
"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. But Mr. Trump ultimately turned away because he also wanted cuts to legal immigration that Democrats would not accept. [snip]
By the time Mr. Trump met with Ms. Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, in December, they offered $1.375 billion. The president then insisted on $5.7 billion, and when he did not get it, much of the government was left without the funding to keep doors open. [snip]So the inept moron in the Oval Office literally negotiated less and less as time went on, while watching his and his party's poll numbers plummet and thousands denied a paycheck. Winning! Now, he's relying on the right-wing Wurlitzer at Fux to pretend that he's won some kind of victory.
The deal reached this week returned to the same $1.375 billion available in December to pay for 55 miles of fencing along the border, although not walls based on the new steel or concrete prototypes Mr. Trump has promoted." (our emphasis)
(illustration: Richard S. Arthurson. What beautiful robes the Emperor's wearing.)
