He tried to get funding for the wall over a year ago, to the tune of roughly 2 billion. There was enough Democrat opposition even at that point to derail it before it even made it to the Senate. They only thing the GOP and Dems agreed on at that point was 1.5 billion allocated for tech and maintenance at the border. No new fending or the like ofc.

Yep. Because there's a big difference between China doing whatever the **** they want and China coming to the negotiating table because Trump's actions have both directly and indirectly put them in a position where they actually want to negotiate on something. That in itself is a big concession.

They're already proposing a few tasty morsels. We'll just have to see what a final arrangement might look like later in the year.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/18/chin...us-report.html

Well, I'm sorry Anteater, but I see things from a very different perspective. Specifically:

What does that even mean? If you're suggesting there is shared responsibility for a shutdown, why are you praising Trump for pushing the Dems to the limit?

^ All along Trump could've ended the shutdown by honouring his pre-Ann-Coulter word on the bi-partisan agreement, so no, it didn't stop being his responsibility. His proposal was a disingenious mish-mash of old ideas that had already been rejected and certainly didn't contain "a good concession on DACA". Surely it has been Trump who has put the fate of DACA recipients at risk? Basically, Trump took away their security, then in the proposal you mention, he offered to give it back to them temporarily if he was given $5.7 bn. That's pretty much the same technique that is used in protection racketering.
^ Everyone knew from Day One that a shutdown would be painful. In fact Trump was one of a few Montgomery-Burns-type voices insisting right to the last that Fed workers could get loans and "work along", whatever that much repeated, but never explained expression means. Please don't suggest that he had a change of heart the day the Dems rejected his proposal - that doesn't really tally with the timeline of events.

^ Or to adapt your words to match Trump's approach, "I'm willing to let 800, 000 Fed workers suffer to see if it will get me what I want."

^ I think this piece of corporate jargon also needs to be adapted if it is to match the conduct of Trump and McConnell during the shut down. I didn't notice either of them working full-time to develop methodologies that work. McConnell was so missing in action that a Where'sMitch? hashtag was created to try to flush him out into the open.

^ This is for the future, so I can't contradict you but I don't share your certainty about how it's going to play out.

1. A shutdown always seems to happens when two sides disagree on a key issue. I'm praising Trump on this particular shutdown because it became obvious that the Democrats wanted to fly off to Puerto Rico rather than come up with a deal. They were the ones who "caved" by putting Trump into a position where he could shut down the government in the first place. It's like "guys, you were willing to send 20 billion to Mexico and South America without batting an eye. If he wants 5 billion let him have it and then use the whole debacle against him in 2020". But noooooo, "Hey, lets shut down the government and let Trump set the stage to do crazier things later. I'm sure that won't blow back on us at all later on..."

Basically, I believe their reaction to Trump's stubbornness came off as ridiculously dumb. They sound nicer on T.V. because they're all rehearsed, but they're everything that's wrong with our political system. They took their salaries and flew off to chill with celebrities instead of trying to outsmart the POTUS or make a deal sooner.

2. Trump sought funding for the Wall back in 2017 as well and Democrats + RINOs couldn't come up with a good deal then either: didn't even make it to the Senate. And all he asked for back then was 2 billion.

3. Considering the fact that Trump was already in the process of passing a bill to provide backpay to workers effected by the shutdown, it is safe to say that the timeline supports my version of events as opposed to yours. He never intended it to go on beyond a month's time. He thought they'd either cave or push him to Operation: National Emergency. Otherwise, the timing of him signing a bill for backpay to federal workers is too coincidental.

4. Fed workers always get the short of the stick during a shutdown. Does everyone despise Bill Clinton retrospectively when he shut down the government for relatively petty disagreements in the mid 90's? Of course not. The same will be true of this. It's just another petty bump in the road, just instead of Bill Clinton screaming about education moneys its Trump wanting to fulfill another campaign promise.

5. "I didn't notice either of them working full-time to develop methodologies that work" doesn't mean anything. My point still stands. Plus, you need to take media coverage of any given event or narrative with a grain of salt. None of those reports have any clue what McConnell or anyone else was working on. CNN isn't living in his sock drawer.

**** compromising with and appeasing a race baiting sociopath. No wall, no question.

Ah. Just 2 billion for his crazy symbolic fascist wall building project. Trump is a reasonable man after all. It's not like 2 billion is a heck of a lot of money and could be put to real use somewhere else.

As president I vow to fight for things the majority Americans do not want. Vote for me.

**** a permanent monument to racism for real

Not to mention we’re the ones who are likely to need to escape in a few years (or months)

Build a wall around OHs house and cut off his internet. That's 5 billion I can get behind.

I have a house? Where the **** is it????