That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t go through with it. I don’t like Trump but as far as options go, that was his best option. Now he looks like a weak bully.
I think what we learned is you can shut down the government for two pay periods then the shit starts to hit the fan. In truth not only did democrats beat Trump badly, they also proved shut downs are not a tactic that can last longer than 2 pay periods for federal workers until they start wrecking things like aviation. It really does make the Republican threats to shut the government down irrelevant now.
I've followed Trump since the early 80s. He never has been a deal maker. His idea of a deal is to push people around, lie, cheat and steal. What goes around comes around.
And he still has to wait for his SOTU speech. Pelosi says Trump’s State of the Union will still be delayed Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed Friday afternoon that she is sticking to her previous statements on when President Donald Trump can deliver the State of the Union address. The Speaker had said the President could not deliver the SOTU in the House of Representatives until the government is reopened and there is a “mutually-agreed upon date.” “The State of the Union is not planned now,” the Speaker told reporters. “What I said to the president is when government is opened, we will discuss a mutually agreeable date. And I’ll look forward to doing that.”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/25/politics/donald-trump-shutdown-border/index.html?no-st=1548454700 "If we don't get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on February 15 again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency," Trump said. "We will have great security." CNN has now "updated" their story, and it looks like a second shutdown is possible. I don't think anyone knows what's going to happen come Feb. 15th. Maybe they'll blow us all away and strike a deal before then.