Trump will likely agree to $1.3 billion in border funding. He rejected $1.6 billion last year.
President Trump looks set to sign a budget deal that doesn't come close to including the amount of border wall funding he's asked for — or even as much as he's rejected in the past.
Trump intends to sign a new budget agreement from Congress that will avert a government shutdown, CNN reported Wednesday. He had expressed dissatisfaction with the bill, and understandably so; he'd been for weeks asking for $5.7 billion in border wall funding, and this bill only includes $1.375 billion for 55 miles of fencing.
But The Washington Post points out that Trump could have had much more if he had just quit while he was ahead. After all, a spending bill produced by the Senate in June 2018 included $1.6 billion for 65 miles of fencing. Trump rejected this amount, wanting $5 billion instead. Now, not only is he ending this whole standoff without $5 billion, he'll receive even less than the original $1.6 billion he was offered, after his insistence on the funding sparked the longest-ever partial government shutdown.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump, though, will likely spin this agreement as not being a show of defeat because he plans to fund the wall in other ways, including by redirecting money from elsewhere within the federal government like disaster relief funds. The full text of the budget agreement has not yet been released, but Trump on Tuesday said it will be "hooked up with lots of money from other sources."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Political cartoons for November 29Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include Kash Patel's travel perks, believing in Congress, and more
-
Nigel Farage: was he a teenage racist?Talking Point Farage’s denials have been ‘slippery’, but should claims from Reform leader’s schooldays be on the news agenda?
-
Pushing for peace: is Trump appeasing Moscow?In Depth European leaders succeeded in bringing themselves in from the cold and softening Moscow’s terms, but Kyiv still faces an unenviable choice
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
