We are now in the 28th day of the government shutdown with no solution in sight. That makes this the longest government shutdown in United States history -- with the old record being 21 days.
Trump seems to think that he has public support for the shutdown (and has even bragged that the workers not being paid support his shutdown). And he has tried to shift blame for the shutdown onto Democrats. He is wrong about his support and has failed to shift the blame. In short, he is losing the battle over the shutdown.
About 50% of Americans blame Trump for the shutdown, while only 32% say Democrats are to blame. And the public believes that Democrats (57% to 43%) care more about the dilemma of federal workers than either Republicans (45% to 54%) or Trump (39% to 61%).
Democrats understand that they cannot cave to Trump's demands to reopen the government. If they do, they will just be giving Trump a weapon to use against them in the future. He will shut the government down anytime he doesn't get what he wants. The Democrats must make it clear to him that he cannot hold the government hostage to get what he wants.
I think most of the public understands that also.
The charts above use information from the most recent Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between January 12th and 15th of a national sample of 1,500 adults, with a margin of error of 3 points.
