A prime-time clash over the U.S. shutdown

On the 18th day of the partial government shutdown, President Trump gave a national address from the White House, citing misleading statistics to declare that there is a “humanitarian and security crisis” on the southern border and demanding billions of dollars in funding for a wall, which he claimed would be “indirectly paid for” by Mexico.

That was one of many assertions we fact-checked in a live briefing on the address.

In a Democratic rebuttal moments later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, joined by Senator Chuck Schumer, said that Mr. Trump “must stop holding the American people hostage, must stop manufacturing a crisis and must reopen the government.”

On the ground: Americans living near the border show little enthusiasm for a wall.

Looking ahead: Mr. Trump will travel to the Texas border on Thursday. But privately, he has dismissed his own new strategy of persuading the American people as pointless, and the shutdown is set to drag on. For many federal workers, that means no paychecks. So far, polls show Mr. Trump taking most of the blame for the shutdown, and Senate Republicans are increasingly anxious.