President Donald Trump signaled defeat Wednesday on his threat to shut down nearly half the federal government over his border wall funding demand, possibly pulling the country back from the brink of a Christmas crisis.

His morning tweet and spokeswoman’s comments Tuesday marked another abrupt reversal for the 45th president, who last week roared at the top two congressional Democrats that he would “take the mantle” and shut down parts of the government unless they gave him $5 billion for his border barrier.

The GOP president was mum about lawmakers’ efforts Tuesday to find a way to keep several unfunded departments open beyond Friday night, telling reporters “it’s too early to say” what he might sign. But Republican and Democratic Senate leaders rejected each other’s proposals for anything more than a short stopgap measure, and that’s exactly what Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Shelby announced Tuesday evening he would prepare for a floor vote to keep the agencies open until early February.

That would mean lawmakers could leave before Friday, with Trump following them out of town that morning for a planned 16-day vacation at his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida.

[It’s the President’s Latest TV Drama. Call It ‘Trump Show: Shutdown’]