Trump Can Win Wall Shutdown—With Oval Office Address—But It Will Be A Fight

What would happen if President Trump stuck to his threat to shut down the government to get the wall? It’s the only way the president may get wall funding and it would signal to overconfident Democrats that he won’t be a pushover as they take control of the House. Will Democrats actually cave? They may—especially if Trump takes Ryan J. Girdusky’s suggestion [What must Trump do to make progress on immigration?, Fox And Friends,December 14, 2018] and turns public opinion around with powerful addresses from the Oval Office that pin surging illegal immigration on the Democrats....

At the moment, wall funding has the necessary votes to pass the House, but not the 60 votes it needs to clear the Senate. (There are currently just 51 Republican Senators, going up to 53 in the next Congress)....

Trump may have to keep the government shutdown for nearly a month before Democrats come to an agreement with him...

But seventy-five percent of the government would remain open. And it’s far riskier for Trump to give up on the wall than to fight for it....

But will Trump follow through on the shutdown threat? ...

Meanwhile, incredibly, the Trump Administration and the Congressional GOP have been wasting all of their political capital in the lame-duck session on “criminal justice reform.” Jared Kushner has cajoled Conservative Inc. into promoting the supposed greatness of thousands of criminals joining the general population....

The commander-in-chief has to set the example for his party to follow when dealing with a Democrat-controlled House. If they relent without getting one additional dollar for the wall, they will signal to Democrats to walk all over them in the next two years....