Trump cornered on border wall

Inside the White House, the Trump team is increasingly aware that the president is trapped.

Facing a Republican Party unwilling to back another government shutdown or a national emergency declaration to build his border wall, President Donald Trump is in an unfamiliar position, according to multiple White House officials and lawmakers: prepared, potentially, to accept a compromise foisted on him by Congress.

Only a few days ago, Trump called a committee tasked with hammering out a border security deal “a waste of time.”

But he seemed warm to the idea of a bipartisan deal on Thursday after he met with Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). Shelby later briefed Senate Republicans on their meeting at a party lunch, which left them hopeful the president was willing to support something that gives him more money for fencing — even if it wasn’t the $5.7 billion he’s been seeking, said one attendee.