BORDER/DEMS/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “President Donald Trump is mulling the prospect of making a counter-offer to Democratic leaders that would prevent a partial government shutdown and kick the border wall fight into next year, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations. While the specifics of that offer are unclear, Republicans on Capitol Hill are increasingly considering a two-week stop-gap that would fund the government into January. Roughly a quarter of the federal government will shut down next Friday [12-21-18] absent a bipartisan deal. The president has meetings scheduled this afternoon with his legislative affairs director, Shahira Knight, and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, to discuss possible options, according to his private schedule and a source familiar with his plans, who indicated that the White House has yet to settle on a counter-proposal to Democrats. There is universal agreement that the decision about whether to keep the government open rests with the president. Trump said during a contentious, televised Oval Office meeting on Tuesday with House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that he would be ‘proud’ to shut down the government if Democrats refuse him the $5 billion in funding for his border wall.”
–Eliana Johnson, Burgess Everett and Rachael Bade, “Trump considers delaying border wall fight until January,” Politico, December 14, 2018 2:13 pm