President Trump blasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Jan. 20, after she refused to accept an immigration deal he spoke about the previous day. (Reuters)
Donald Trump was elected president partly by assuring the American people that “I alone can fix it.”
But precisely two years into his presidency, the government is not simply broken — it is in crisis, and Trump is grappling with the reality that he cannot fix it alone.
Trump’s management of the partial government shutdown — his first foray in divided government — has exposed as never before his shortcomings as a dealmaker. The president has been adamant about securing $5.7 billion in public money to construct his long-promised border wall, but he has not won over congressional Democrats, who call the wall immoral and have refused to negotiate over border security until the government reopens.