| | | | Donald Trump just took his ball and went home |  | | Thursday morning started quiet in Washington. Too quiet.
Following the Republican-controlled Senate's passage Wednesday night of a short-term resolution to fund the government through February 8 -- and avoid the political tremors caused by a government shutdown -- the Republican-controlled House was expected to follow suit Thursday.
Then everyone would go home for the holidays happy(ish). (In truth, lots of House members, especially those who lost their re-election bids last month, were already home. And most senators skedaddled out of DC soon after the vote last night.)
Except that Donald Trump wasn't done changing his mind. After initially saying last week that he would be proud to own a government shutdown over the border if Democrats refused to give him the $5 billion he wanted for a wall on the southern border, Trump's position seemed to soften earlier this week, with advisers suggesting he would likely sign a short-term measure.
Then, this tweet on Thursday morning: "When I begrudgingly signed the Omnibus Bill, I was promised the Wall and Border Security by leadership. Would be done by end of year (NOW). It didn't happen! We foolishly fight for Border Security for other countries - but not for our beloved U.S.A. Not good!"
Then came a meeting with House Republican leaders in which things came into clear focus: Trump wasn't keeping the government open unless and until he got the border wall money he wanted.
"I've made my position very clear," he said. "Any measure that funds the government must include border security." (Sidebar: His position has been anything but clear. See above.)
And with that, the reality TV President created a twist in the season finale episode of his White House show that almost no one saw coming. And that Republicans in Congress had no answers for.
Where do things go from here? Who knows? I have a hard time seeing how Trump gets even a piece of the border wall funding he is demanding before the government is set to close tomorrow night. A shutdown seems the likeliest option -- although, based on the last 24 hours, who knows in which direction this all goes.
The Point: Trump, deep down, loves all of this. He is making moves, upending expectations and -- in his mind -- standing firm on principle against the establishment forces, in both parties, that are just trying to do what's easy.
-- Chris | | "Did he just say that? Ugh, are you ruining my life?"
-- Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, nearly dropping her handbag while reacting to news that President Trump would not sign a compromise to keep the government funded because it did not include more funds for a border wall. | | | Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is headed for the exit -- after announcing Friday that he'll leave the Trump administration effective February 28, 2019.
Why's he leaving? Mattis made clear he broke with Trump over the importance of NATO, maintaining positive relationships with US allies, US leadership in the defeat-ISIS coalition and viewing China and Russia as adversaries instead of allies.
"Because you have the right to a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position," Mattis explained in his departure letter.
The news comes on the heels of Trump's announcement yesterday that the United States would withdraw from Syria -- something with which Mattis disagreed. But Mattis did not specifically cite the Syria departure in his resignation letter.
California Democrat Rep. John Garamendi had a two-word comment when CNN's Manu Raju told him about Mattis leaving: "Oh shit."
The bottom line: The three top people around Trump who had pushed back most on his agenda -- Rex Tillerson, John Kelly and now Mattis -- are gone. "Now there is only Trump," Chris writes, "and those willing to enable him."
Read his full analysis here. | | Mark your calendar 🗓 for June 2019!
That's when Democratic debate season will officially kick off, according to the DNC, which announced today it plans to hold 12 Democratic debates over 2019 and 2020 (six in the first year and six in the second).
We still don't know exactly what those debates will look like -- or where they'll be -- or when they'll specifically take place. Chris notes that there's still one big problem to be resolved with these Democratic debates. But hey, there's still time! | |  | Wait, what? Trump's wildest lines of 2018 | | | 2018 was a wild, weird year. Here's a recap of President Trump's most memorable and confusing comments. Subscribe to The Point on YouTube! | | NEXT COMES THE SIGNATURE 🖋 | | The criminal justice bill that passed in the Senate yesterday cleared its final hurdle.
It passed the House today, meaning it's now headed to President Trump's desk to be signed into law. Trump tweeted today calling the bill a "great bi-partisan achievement for everybody" and "A wonderful thing for the U.S.A.!!"
It enjoys the opposite fate of the deal to avert the partial government shutdown -- which Trump made clear today he wants to scuttle over what he said is not enough money to build the border wall. | |
THAT'S ONE WAY TO BUILD THE WALL, APPARENTLY | | Mexico says it won't pay for it, and funding from the US government looks iffy at best, so some people have taken to crowdsourcing to raise cash to build President Trump's border wall.
Brian Kolfage, the man behind a GoFundMe to support the wall, is a triple amputee Air Force veteran and motivational speaker. He's asking every American to contribute $80. The account had raised more than $5 million from about 84,000 donors as of midday Thursday -- a huge sum, but still far from the $5 billion goal.
"Even if we get half, that's half the wall. We can do this," Kolfage wrote. | | Consider it a peek at the next 14 months.
Two would-be 2020 contenders crossed paths in the lobby of the Des Moines Marriott, one of the Iowa hotels that becomes ground zero for all things politics ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
Today, it was California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, both in town to speak at the Progress Iowa Holiday Party tonight. | | | | | | |
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