Lawmakers might also agree to give the administration money to enhance border security in ways that do not include construction of the physical wall, which might allow Trump to declare a partial victory. “We’ve made very clear to Congress that the president’s priorities are increasing military spending and security of our border,” Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said last week when asked whether Trump would insist on money for the wall as part of the spending bill. “We’re going to continue to have conversations with Congress, and we feel confident that they’ll do their job.”

Democrats caution that the negotiations could still blow up once members of Congress return to Washington next week. Will the House Freedom Caucus make demands of the GOP leadership, and will the leadership try to appease conservatives rather than jettisoning them in favor of a deal with Democrats? Will Trump reinsert himself into the talks with a Twitter rant? The conservative who sparked the last government shutdown in 2013, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, is already warning that Schumer might, in effect, try to bait Republicans into a crisis for which they’ll get the blame. “I do have some concern that to appease the radical left, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats may do everything they can to try to provoke a shutdown,” he said earlier this week, according to The Texas Tribune.

There’s good reason to be skeptical about the prospects for a deal. The Republican Congress has had a sputtering start to the year, falling short on a health-care bill for which they needed no help from Democrats. Schumer and Trump have spent more time insulting each other than bargaining, and the Democratic leader has little to gain politically from sparing the new president a nightmare on his 100th day in office.