After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi moved to postpone President Trump’s State of the Union address, citing security concerns due to the government shutdown, Trump responded by grounding her military transport to Europe and Afghanistan. It was a classically petty example of political tit-for-tat, inviting derision on both sides.

The risk for Pelosi, and the hope for Trump, is that the underlying government shutdown could be seen the same way. If the unprecedented crippling of federal operations is perceived as a case of two intransigent partisans who need to stop bickering and reach a compromise, the San Francisco congresswoman will take more of the blame for the accumulating consequences, and the president will be more likely to get the billions he is demanding for his border wall.

In fact, Trump is the author of this longest shutdown in history — now entering its fifth week and likely to reach a full month — with more than a little help from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who won’t allow votes to reopen shuttered agencies without the president’s permission.

In light of more recent events, it’s worth revisiting what Trump told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in an infamous televised Oval Office meeting with Pelosi and a strangely mum Vice President Mike Pence the week before the shutdown began: “If we don’t get what we want one way or the other ... I will shut down the government, absolutely. ... I am proud to shut down the government for border security. ... So I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it. ... I will take the mantle of shutting down. And I’m going to shut it down for border security.”

We don’t have to take Trump’s word for it — nor should we as a general rule — but the president’s account in this case was accurate. On the eve of the shutdown, the Republican-controlled Senate passed legislation to fund the entire government, without the wall, by voice vote, meaning it passed overwhelmingly enough that no roll call was necessary. The outgoing House Republican majority and the president were expected to do the same before an outcry from far-right commentators forced Trump to reverse course. The Democratic House majority has now passed similar legislation, but McConnell has prevented senators from voting on what they passed a month ago.

Trump’s shutdown is unprecedented not only in length but in kind. The four-decade history of federal funding gaps contains no other example of a president causing a shutdown to make Congress spend money on a new program or project. Most of the previous shutdowns were brought about by lawmakers trying — and usually failing — to force cuts or spending on the president. Other White Houses recognized that acceding to such demands would set a terrible precedent, encouraging future hostage-taking for any reason; so would a congressional capitulation to Trump.

The president’s back-and-forth with the speaker is a distraction not only from the shutdown’s cause but also a potential resolution. McConnell and his fellow Senate Republicans have voted for a functioning government before. They can and should do so again.

This commentary is from The Chronicle’s editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.