ELECTION/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “WITH IMMIGRATION taking such a major role in the elections, we started wondering yesterday whether there was a plan in place to fund PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S border wall. Each person we spoke to in the Capitol said they had no idea how the fight would play out, and noted that there are NO serious talks underway yet. Republicans will look to wrap this up this year. It’s going to be a long eight weeks. ONE CONSTANT during Trump’s presidency is that he’s seemed surprised by the constraints of the office. He came in as the CEO of a family real estate empire, who had to learn to deal with Congress, congressional leaders and the guardrails around the executive branch. If Democrats take the House, Trump will be further shackled. The policy preferences he’s enumerating at the moment — new asylum policies, a militarized southern border and a new tax bill — would likely go up in smoke in divided government. There are serious concerns at the top of the GOP food chain that the White House is not fully attuned to this reality.”
–Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman and Daniel Lippman, “POLITICO Playbook: 4 days out … No plans in the Capitol for Trump’s border wall,” Politico, November 2, 2018 10:01 am