President Trump on Monday kept trying to pin blame for a government shutdown on Democrats, said the only problem with the economy is the Federal Reserve and continued to defend his much-criticized military pullout in Syria.

President Donald Trump stepped up his efforts the day before Christmas to blame Democrats for a government closure — two weeks after publicly saying in the Oval Office he’d be proud to shut it down to get his way on border-wall funding.

In a tweet, Trump insisted as he’s often done that top Democrats supported a border wall before he took office:

That’s a stretch.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has backed spending bills to repair or replace miles of existing border fencing that have fallen into disrepair. He reportedly was once willing to support a large spending package for a wall in exchange for Trump concessions on illegal immigrants already in the country, but nothing came of that.

Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for her part, has never supported a wall.

How long the shutdown lasts is anyone’s guess.

Trump apparently has reduced his initial demand for $5 billion to some $2 billion in funds to build a wall along some sections of the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats are dug in, though. They might support some funding for a “fence” or general border security, but not for anything remotely resembling the large wall Trump has sought.

In his tweet, Trump was careful to mention a “border wall or fence” — evidently a sop to Democrats. So far, they are not biting.

Don’t miss:How the shutdown would affect federal services and stocks

Playing the blame game, Part 2

The Federal Reserve is also in the president’s crosshairs. The central bank raised interest rates again last week, and, although lending rates are still quite low historically, stocks saw another selloff.

And stocks sank again on Monday.

Read:Dow skids about 400 points lower in early action on the eve of Christmas

Trump has reportedly wondered whether he could fire Fed Chairman Jay Powell and is purportedly calling his selection of Powell one of his worst decisions ever.

In Trump’s words, as edited for clarity, the Fed is like a golfer who can tee up the long ball, but can’t putt:

Defensive on Syrian pullout

Trump said he likes allies just fine. He just doesn’t want to let them take advantage of the U.S. on trade or military protection.

That’s how the president is defending his decision to pull a few thousand American troops out of Syria where they have been battling the Islamist terrorist group ISIS. In his stated view, the U.S. is subsidizing the militaries or rich countries and doing the fighting that others ought to do instead:

The surprise decision prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis, who made it clear he disagreed with Trump in a letter announcing his departure.

Stung by the letter, an annoyed Trump moved up Mattis’s exit to Jan. 1 from the late February time frame Mattis had given in his resignation letter.

A replacement for Mattis

The new acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, has no experience in the military. That by itself is not so unusual in a nation in which civilian control of the military is a paramount principle. Many of the secretaries and deputy secretaries who have led the Defense Department have lacked military service.

What makes Shanahan unusual is the limited breadth of his résumé. He spent almost his entire career at Boeing BA, -3.39% , the nation’s second largest defense contractor, before becoming deputy to Mattis.

Most top leaders at the Pentagon have spent years in government and academia, working at think tanks or holding jobs in which they might influence U.S. foreign policy.

Shanahan does have a lot of experience in budgeting and the development of military aircraft, the sort of expertise that the president values.