“I don’t mind owning that issue,” he said of a shutdown. He has repeatedly vowed to avoid shutdowns at all costs to try to project a Republican image of government competency. Democrats quickly backtracked, realizing that they were losing politically, and the shutdown extended only over a weekend. Mr. Trump said Tuesday that Democrats got “killed” for that maneuvering. Democrats believe it was Mr. Trump, with his fervent shutdown embrace, who presented them a gift.

Source: New York Times December 12, 2018 10:00 UTC