In fact, despite his public hard-line stance, Trump has been quietly looking for a way out of the shutdown for weeks, according to White House aides. In recent days, the president has expressed frustration to allies about how the crisis was being covered on cable news, worrying that Democrats had won the upper hand, even before Friday’s dramatic airport delays…
But the erosion of Senate Republican support — fueled by the increasingly damaged economy and worsening poll numbers — perhaps more than anything is what pushed Trump to reverse course…
“A lot of the conference wanted to end the shutdown by any means possible,” said a Republican senator stunned by Trump’s about-face. Trump isn’t going to get what he wants in the end, this lawmaker added: “Nothing is going to happen. This is surrender. I don’t see how it becomes anything. It’s just complete, total surrender.”
