BORDER/DEMS/GOVERNMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “President Donald Trump said Thursday [1-24-19] he is open to a measure to end the partial government shutdown for three weeks in exchange for a ‘down payment’ on his border wall, marking a potential breakthrough in the weekslong stalemate. Trump’s comments that he would consider a ‘reasonable agreement’ worked out by Senate leaders to reopen federal agencies came as pressure built on him and congressional Democrats to end the impasse that dragged the shutdown into a 34th day, the longest such lapse in U.S. history. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., began a flurry of talks earlier Thursday over a short-term funding measure after two competing bills to reopen the government failed on the Senate floor. Trump said that if McConnell and Schumer ‘come to a reasonable agreement, I would support it, yes.’ Discussions Thursday didn’t appear to break new ground as Schumer’s office said no funding for a border wall would be considered, whether it was prorated or just a down payment.”
–John Fritze, David Jackson and Michael Collins, “Trump open to ending government shutdown for three weeks in exchange for wall ‘down payment’,” USA Today, January 24, 2019 8:59 pm