BORDER/DEMS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “Inside the White House, the Trump team is increasingly aware that the president is trapped. Facing a Republican Party unwilling to back another government shutdown or a national emergency declaration to build his border wall, President Donald Trump is in an unfamiliar position, according to multiple White House officials and lawmakers: prepared, potentially, to accept a compromise foisted on him by Congress. Only a few days ago, Trump called a committee tasked with hammering out a border-security deal ‘a waste of time.’ But he seemed warm to the idea of a bipartisan deal on Thursday after he met with Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). Shelby later briefed Senate Republicans on their meeting at a party lunch, which left them hopeful the president would be willing to support something that gives him more money for fencing — even if it isn’t the $5.7 billion he’s been seeking, said one attendee.”
–Eliana Johnson, Burgess Everett and Gabby Orr, “Trump cornered on border wall,” Politico, February 7, 2019 6:09 pm