Considering the President’s Next Move on the Wall

RUSH: Let’s look at the compromise deal regarding the budget and the border wall, border protection, border security that has been announced.

Do I think the president is happy with this? No! There’s no way the president’s happy with this. There’s no way this satisfies him. What do you want? What do you want, folks?

Now, let’s go back to December 19th when this all began. I was complaining about the media talking about the great compromise bill they wanted Trump to sign. And I meant, and I pointed out back then, that if Trump signed it he would get even less than nothing because originally the Department of Homeland Security funding included $1.6 billion for the wall that did not appear in the compromise bill that Trump was to sign. It got stripped out.

So that’s why I characterized this as Trump getting less than nothing in the new deal. And the media was calling this the great compromise and this was gonna go forward and they were reporting that Trump was getting ready to sign it. And, of course, I pointed out that that’s crazy, that’d be crazy to sign this thing. Trump’s getting less than nothing. He had $1.6 billion, and it’s been removed. Well, at that point I got a text message assuring me, “Don’t worry. The media reports that Trump’s gonna sign this thing are wrong. He’s not gonna sign it,” and so forth.

President Trump’s approval rating’s at 52. It was at 43 at the time of the shutdown. The president’s approval numbers have skyrocketed on the basis of this shutdown.

Well, let’s get to the details of the compromise legislation. This new offer from the Democrats — they’ve come off of zero. They’re now offering money for a wall, $1.375 billion. And I have to point out that that is still less than the original money agreed to by the appropriations committee. This $1.6 billion that was on the table before December 19th that then got pulled out in the compromise between House and Senate. And the continuing resolution that Trump had in front of him had no money in it, nothing, whereas the Senate side had authorized $1.6 billion that got pulled out in the compromise so that’s why I said he’s getting less than nothing.

Well, $1.375 billion is back in, not the $5.7 billion he said he wants. This will pay for 55 miles of the 64-mile expansion that the president wants. So we go from a bill that had no money in it for the wall — well, that originally had $1.6 billion in it, but that was taken out in compromise — to the shutdown, and now a deal where the Democrats have agreed to put $1.375 billion back in. That will help the president, allow the president to build 55 miles of the 64-mile wall expansion that he has sought.

Now, bear in mind the president was pushing for $5.7 billion for additional walls because Border Patrol experts said they were desperately needed. The $5.7 billion wasn’t just pulled out of the air. It was money the president was recommended by Border Patrol experts, what they needed to do their work. Now, another part of this deal is that the Democrats have graciously agreed to move off their insistence that the number of detention beds for illegal-alien criminals be capped at 16,500.

They seriously wanted to limit the number of criminal illegals who could be detained, and once that limit had been reached — which we have reached it and gone beyond — they’d just be released “into the wild,” so to speak. Now, in this compromise deal, our gracious Democrats are allowing funding for 40,520 beds — in other words, the ability to sleep or detain 40,520 criminal illegal aliens. That is the number of beds funded in the last budget under Obama.

Trump wanted it increased to 52,000 because of his efforts to round up more illegal alien criminals. So you’ve got movement here. You had zero. Well, you had $1.6 billion authorized. Then it was taken out, so you had zero. So you could say less than nothing. Then we got the shutdown. The shutdown goes on. Trump’s approval numbers skyrocket from 43 to 52%.

State of the Union’s in there.

They got a chance to see the truth and learn the truth. I think it was a deft maneuver by the president. So now here we are at another compromise, which authorizes $1.375 billion — less than the $1.6 billion, but still greater than the zero. So let’s look at the options. If the president signs this, what can he say? He can say, “Look, I wanted a 64-mile expansion of the wall. I got 55 here, and it’s just a continuation.” One of the president’s themes last night was we’re already doing it. We’re already building the wall. We’re already expanding; we’re already modernizing.

This will be portrayed as a continuation of something that is already happening. He could portray it as a win, because the Democrats were offering zip, zero, nada — even though it’s less than what Trump said he wanted.

Anything that happens that solidifies and cements that effort as being undertaken and underway, the president can portray as a win. He can always hold out the card of a declaration of a national emergency to get the rest of it built and so forth. So I don’t know what they’re thinking in the White House on this. But I’m sure they’re looking at it somewhat similar to this. “If we sign this, how can we portray this as a win to our people?”

It’s less than the $1.6 billion, the $1.375 billion. But Nancy Pelosi said, no money ever. Chuck Schumer said, no money ever. The Democrats have moved here. Why? It’s called 52% approval. It’s called Trump has, in the government shutdown, succeeded in informing and educating the American people what’s really happening here, those that didn’t know. So do you think the president should say flat-out, “No,” again? “I’m demanding $5.7 billion.” They’ve given him enough money to build 55 miles of the 64-mile expansion he wants.

Should he shut it down again? Should he hang in there, hang tough, and shut it down again, or should he take the 55 miles?

President Trump this afternoon White House during cabinet meeting. Before the meeting, a little press gaggle. A reporter: “Mr. President, will you sign the conference committee’s border deal?”

More From Rush Limbaugh: