When 78-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi cancelled 72-year-old President Donald Trump’s scheduled Jan. 29 State of the Union speech Jan. 16 it was certain Trump would retaliate. Trump responded today ordering the Pentagon to scuttle Pelosi’s scheduled trip to Afghanistan, Egypt and Brussels. Trump decided it Pelosi thinks so little of the government shutdown to start foreign travel instead of negotiating on Trump’s border barrier, he saw fit to prevent her from using the Pentagon for her foreign travel. Pelosi and Trump have been at loggerheads since she took the gavel as House Speaker Jan. 3. Since then, she’s refused to negotiate on Trump’s request for $5.7 billion in border security funding to build out a steel-slat fence where appropriate, providing addition resources and personnel to the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] and local law enforcement.
Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.)) refusal to negotiate prompted Trump to shutdown the government Dec. 22, 2018, now the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. With Pelosi and Schumer refusing to deal with Trump, there’s no end in sight of the stalemate, with both sides digging in, refusing to allow 800,000 federal workers to return to work or receive paychecks. Long lines at Transportation Security [TSA] at major airport are having a real impact on everyday citizens. Delta Airlines announced today that it’s lost $25 million in revenue because of consumers postponing travel plans. With 800,000 government workers strapped for cash, it’s not good for the consumer economy heading into 2019. At each others’ throats, Trump and Pelosi need some urgent mediation to resolve their differences, before it tanks the economy.
Canceling the State of the Union speech yesterday, Pelosi applies any pressure she can to get Trump to cave in on his $5.7 billion demand for more border security. But a House Speaker shouldn’t play a game of chicken with an incumbent president who, unlike Congress, is commissioned under Article 2 of the Constitution to protect U.S. national security. Several of Trump predecessors decided under Article 2 to start foreign wars, costing the U.S. treasury trillions of dollars. Trump modest request pales in comparison to the $25 billion approved by Pelosi in 2007 for former President Barack Obama’s request to deal with the porous Mexican border. Why Pelosi has said no to Trump’s request for border security is anyone’s guess. It looks like she no longer recognizes Trump as commander in chief, refusing to honor his request for border funds to deal with U.S. national security.
Pelosi called the border wall “immoral” Jan. 3, signaling that she would reject forcefully Trump’s request for more border funding. Pelosi had no problems honoring Obama’s request for border security, specifically designed to build out 700 miles of border fencing. Pelosi’s decision to disinvite Trump from speaking to a joint session of Congress Jan. 29 prompted Trump to cancel her Mideast trip. “Due to the shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan has been postponed,” Trump tweeted, throwing down the gauntlet. Pelosi’s decision to head out of Dodge during the government shutdown made zero sense, since the fix could be quick-and-easy. As Sen. Ron Paul (R-Ky.) said today on Fox News with Neil Cavuto, the difference between Pelosi and Trump could be split down the middle. Trump was irked that Pelosi was leaving town.
Trump sat patiently over the holidays at the White House waiting for Pelosi and Schumer to come to the table. He finally met with them Dec. 11, 2018 in the Oval Office, only have Pelosi and Schumer laugh-in-his-face about his request for border funding. When the situation repeated itself Jan. 11, Trump walked out when Pelosi told him there would be no border funding even if he reopened government. House Democrats reacted harshly to Trump canceling Pelosi’s Mideast trip. “Whether this fifth grade conduct is going to continue, it’s hard to see how it’s rather constructive,” said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). “At the end of the day, whatever his motivation is, we’ll do our oversight,” blaming the president for the government shutdown. Democrats want the government opened but have offered Trump nothing on border barrier funding.
Trump wants Pelosi to remain in Washington and come to the bargaining table. “We want to keep her [Pelosi] in Washington. If she leaves, she guarantees that the second round of paychecks to workers won’t go out,” pleading with Pelosi and Schumer to come back to the table. Pelosi and Schumer “always have an invitation” to negotiate on border security. Pelosi’s decision to delay the State of the Union speech until the government reopens prompted Trump to cancel her foreign trip. Calling Trump’s decision “a petty move,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) refused to take any responsibility for the current impasse. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, called the tit-for-tat actions “sophomoric,” calling on both sides to compromise. Graham has insisted that Trump not reopen the government until Pelosi and Schumer show good faith negotiation.
