Monday marked the 16th day of a government shutdown that has left 800,000 federal employees without pay.

The president is scheduled to travel to the Southwest border Thursday. On Tuesday, he wants network air time to make his case for a wall directly to the American people.

But a Fox News host suggested that President Donald Trump is hardly eager to resolve the crisis, noting that focusing attention on the wall is beneficial to the administration.

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“The shutdown is good for Trump. It keeps his base engaged. It keeps the news off of other things that are bad for him. When this is the story, Mueller is not the story,” Fox News politics editor Chris Stirewart said.

The shutdown “is the kind of chaos Trump likes” because it helps him control the news cycle, Stirewart added.

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