Trump has boxed himself into a corner

Now both he and Pelosi have calculations to make.

The most urgent are those of Trump, who impulsively painted himself into a corner and smashed headlong into his mythic border wall. Picking a fight he could not win, he neither pleased his base nor the majority of Americans who reject the wall and resented the costly, marathon shutdown.

In Pelosi, Trump has encountered a canny and implacable foe, with an intimate understanding of the power invested in the Congress. She would not be bullied or cowed.

It seems doubtful that the speaker, flush with victory, will extend a life raft to the President, who faces another deadline three weeks from now. It is unlikely that her caucus will yield on the wall; instead it will probably offer the same package of border and port enhancements it proffered last week.