Donald Trump met with the leading congressional Democrats on Tuesday (Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi). The meeting was to try and get Schumer and Pelosi to agree to give him $5 billion to start building his border wall between the United States and Mexico.
The wall would actually cost upwards of $25 billion, but Trump knows he can't get that amount out of Congress. Even congressional Republicans wouldn't agree to that in the budget for the coming year. But he hopes if he can get $5 billion this time, then maybe he could squeeze more out next year and build the wall a piece at a time.
But Democrats are saying no. They have said they would include $1.6 billion for border security improvements, but will not provide any more than that -- certainly not $5 billion to start a wall that is not needed and most Americans don't want.
A public photo-op turned into a debate between Trump and the two Democrats (especially Pelosi). And Trump threatened to shut down the government if he doesn't get the $5 billion. He also said he would take full responsibility for that government shutdown.
That was a bad political mistake. He has put himself in the position of opposing a majority of Americans, and said he would take the blame for that. As the charts above show, 69% of Americans say the border wall is not an immediate priority, and 57% say Trump should not shut down the government over it.
Democrats should stand firm on this issue, and refuse to give Trump the $5 billion he wants for the wall. We cannot afford the wall (with our ballooning deficit) and don't need it. Trump has staked out a weak position. Let him try to defend it.
The charts above reflect the results of a new NPR / PBS NewsHour / Marist Poll -- done between November 28th and December 4th of a national sample of 1,075 adults, with a 3.7 point margin of error.
