Trump has been fighting to build a border wall with Mexico for years.
The federal government shutdown last month was triggered because Democrats continue to oppose more border security.
But now Trump just suffered a massive betrayal that changes everything.
President Trump and Congressional Democrats are locked in a heated battle.
The President is pushing for greater border security, to include a wall with Mexico.
Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, are against all of this.
This impasse has led to the longest shutdown in American history.
With no end in sight, President Trump may be forced to use his executive powers to direct the military to construct a border wall without congressional approval.
However, this past week the President suffered a massive betrayal which changes everything about the shutdown.
Reuters reports, “A Republican senator close to President Donald Trump on Sunday backed a temporary re-opening of the federal government, in the 23rd day of the longest shutdown ever, to allow for talks on a spending agreement that could satisfy Trump’s border security demands.”
Lindsey Graham (R-SC), has previously stood lockstep with President Trump on the shutdown.
Graham even went as far as to argue that the President should bypass Congress altogether to build the wall.
But he’s now having cold feet.
“Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he urged the president on Sunday to reopen the government for a limited period to try to get talks going again,” Reuters reports.
The change in stance seems innocuous enough, but it could have serious repercussions down the line.
Graham’s flip flop could be a sign that the President is losing support to continue the fight among the Republican Senate ranks.
If the Republican controlled Senate decides to break ranks with the President, the odds of a bill to end the shutdown which contains no funding for the wall or border security passing the Senate go up exponentially.
This could spell doom for the President and his agenda.
The shutdown is already the longest in history.
The stakes are too high to back down now.
If President Trump either caves or is betrayed by Senate Republicans, it could mean that not only will the wall never be built, but President Trump could lose reelection in 2020.
This is the make or break moment for the President.
And Graham is one of the key Senators who will determine what passes through the Senate.
The effects of the shutdown are growing by the day.
Reuters reports, “The record shutdown has furloughed 800,000 federal employees…They missed their first paychecks on Friday, heightening concerns about mounting financial pressures on employees, including air traffic controllers and airport security officials who are working without pay.”
While public opinion polls are split over who is to blame, the effects are real.
This could be the last time the President could get a wall imposed before he faces the voters again in 2020.
And since he first announced he was running in 2015, Trump made border security and building a wall along the border with Mexico a top priority of his campaign and administration.
We will keep you up to date with any new developments in this ongoing story.
