The New York Times editorial board excoriated President Trump Donald John TrumpObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE late Friday, slamming his handling of the 35-day partial government shutdown as “a toddler’s pageant of foot-stomping and incompetence” and "a cruel joke."

“What a debacle President Trump’s shutdown proved to be — what a toddler’s pageant of foot-stomping and incompetence, of vainglory and self-defeat. Mr. Trump tormented public servants and citizens and wounded the country, and, in conceding on Friday after holding the government hostage for 35 days, could claim to have achieved nothing,” it wrote.

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“He succeeded only in exposing the emptiness of his bully’s bravado, of his ‘I alone can fix it’ posturing. Once upon a time, Mr. Trump promised that Mexico would pay for a wall. He instead made all Americans pay for a partisan fantasy.”

The Times published the editorial after the president announced Friday he would sign a three-week funding bill to end what had become the longest shutdown in U.S. history, though without securing money he had demanded for a border wall.

As part of the deal, the House and Senate are forming a bipartisan conference committee to negotiate further border security measures.

The president took to Twitter on Friday night to deny allegations from conservative hard-liners that he had succumbed to Democrats’ demands, saying the deal “was in no way a concession.”

I wish people would read or listen to my words on the Border Wall. This was in no way a concession. It was taking care of millions of people who were getting badly hurt by the Shutdown with the understanding that in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2019

Trump had previously rejected proposals for a three-week bill to fully reopen the government specifically over border wall funding, but appeared to cave after the Senate shot down two different spending bills, leaving no further options left on the table.

“Maybe you want a wall. Can you possibly argue that Mr. Trump’s shutdown strategy advanced your cause? He made the right decision on Friday — to sign a bill reopening the government through Feb. 15, giving lawmakers time to reach a permanent deal. But he could have had this same outcome without a shutdown. He ultimately agreed to the sort of bill that Democrats have been pitching for weeks — one that contains not one dollar in wall funding,” The Times editorial board wrote.

“Of course, the new narrative — that Mr. Trump got owned by [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi — isn’t likely to sit well with him, either. And who knows what he’ll do next to try to salve his ego, and salvage some political capital with the minority of Americans who still seem inclined to support him.”

Trump on Friday again floated the possibility of declaring a national emergency to get the $5.7 billion he says is necessary for a wall if the conference committee cannot come to an agreement by the Feb. 15 deadline.

“I have other alternatives if I have to,” Trump said when asked about the prospect of a deal without wall funding. “And I’ll use those alternatives if I have to. But we want to go through the system. We have to have a wall in this country.”

“We’ll work with the Democrats and negotiate and if we can’t do that, then we’ll do — obviously we’ll do the emergency because that’s what it is. It’s a national emergency,” he added at another event.

Such a move has received pre-emptive criticism from both parties and could face legal challenges.