US President Donald Trump set off mass confusion in the halls of Congress and in the West Wing as he appeared to take to Twitter to respond to what he saw broadcast on “Fox & Friends.” | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images A guide to Trump’s Fox News-inspired tweets on shutdown

Officials on Capitol Hill scrambled this week to monitor President Donald Trump’s shifting social media statements about the congressional push to extend government funding beyond Friday.

But while many eyes were on Trump’s Twitter feed, the president’s focus was seemingly fixed on his favorite news source: the Fox News Channel.


The commander in chief set off mass confusion in the halls of Congress and in the West Wing as he appeared to take to the platform to respond to what he saw broadcast on the leading conservative outlet, particularly the morning show “Fox & Friends.”

Here’s a guide to how Fox News’ coverage of the government shutdown vote was mirrored in Trump’s Twitter feed in the days leading up to Friday’s pivotal midnight deadline.

Wednesday, 6:11 p.m., Kelly tells Fox that Trump has “evolved” on building a wall along southern U.S. border

Chief of Staff John Kelly, during an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Wednesday, reportedly angered the president by suggesting that Trump’s views on immigration, including his signature wall along the southern-U.S. border, had “evolved.”

Pressed on whether Trump believed that a wall was needed across the entire border, Kelly told Baier the president had “changed the way he’s looked at a number of things” and was considering many practical solutions to improving border security.

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“There are other parts of the Southwest border that are so wild and untamed that there is no traffic that goes through them,” Kelly said. “There’s other places, we think about 800 miles additional wall, to include the 600 that are already in place; the fencing would suffice. So he has evolved in the way he’s looked at things.”

Thursday, 6:10 a.m., Fox host says Kelly was “compromising” on the wall

The hosts of “Fox & Friends discussed Kelly’s interview with Baier at length on Thursday morning, replaying clips of the exchange and speculating about what it meant for the debate on immigration and government funding.

“It sounded to me like General Kelly was compromising a little bit on the wall last night in the interview with Bret Baier, getting wobbly on the wall, saying ‘I don’t need brick and mortar all the way through, we can do different barriers,’” host Brian Kilmeade said.

Thursday, 6:15 a.m., Trump says he’s “never changed or evolved” on wall proposal

Trump appeared to directly challenge Kelly’s remarks the following morning, tweeting that his views on the matter remained unchanged shortly after Kilmeade’s remarks aired.

The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it. Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018









....The Wall will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S. The $20 billion dollar Wall is “peanuts” compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S. NAFTA is a bad joke! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018







Thursday, 7:10 a.m., Fox’s Brian Kilmeade says shutdown would be “terrible for the military”

Kilmeade, whom Trump has praised repeatedly on Twitter since entering office, discussed later in the program how a government shutdown might affect the military.

“It would be great for the government not to shut down in my mind,” Kilmeade said. “But I also think it’s terrible for the military, who just can’t plan, they can’t format unless they would go ahead and agree on a budget. And for some reason, this is the third or fourth time we are doing this.”

Thursday, 7:18 a.m., “Fox & Friends” discusses long-term impact of CHIP negotiations

Shortly after the discussion, the White House director of strategic communications, Mercedes Schlapp, a former Fox News contributor, appeared on the network to discuss the congressional debate over funding for the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.

During the exchange, Schlapp and “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy discussed how the continuing resolution being debated in Congress would affect the program.

“Republicans and the president, they have come in with a fair deal of saying, look, you wanted a long-term reauthorization on the CHIP program, let’s work together to ensure that we can pass this short-term spending bill,” Schlapp said. “And I think that’s where we’re hopeful that we are going to get to.”

“Well, you know, it is a sweetener of the deal to have the CHIP in this particular thing from the Republicans,” Doocy replied.

Thursday, 8:37 a.m., Trump tweets that “CHIP should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension!”

The president, who is known to watch the morning program often on delay, urged lawmakers to take up a long-term solution on CHIP, contradicting the wishes of GOP congressional leadership.



CHIP should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018







Thursday, 8:49 a.m., Trump says shutdown would be “ devastating to our military”

Trump appeared to echo Kilmeade’s earlier remarks in urging lawmakers to avert a shutdown.



A government shutdown will be devastating to our military...something the Dems care very little about! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018







Thursday, 6:02, Fox News reports on shutdown’s impact on military

On “Special Report” Baier took up the issue of how a shutdown would affect U.S. military personnel, discussing the issue at length with congressional correspondent Mike Emmanuel.

The segment also featured clips by several Republican lawmakers stressing the importance of extending the government to not hamper U.S. defenses, including by House Speaker Paul Ryan.

“The CR is not good for the military, but what’s worse for the military is a government shutdown,” Ryan said. “What’s even worse for the military is a government shutdown followed by a sequester, which is what would happen if we don’t pass a CR.”

Thursday, 6:39 p.m., Trump urges House to pass funding bill because “our Military needs it!”

Within an hour of the segment’s airing, Trump took to Twitter to impress upon House Republicans the importance of converting on a funding agreement.



House of Representatives needs to pass Government Funding Bill tonight. So important for our country - our Military needs it! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018







Friday, 6:08 a.m., Fox hosts criticize Senate Democrats on immigration, funding

Early Friday, Doocy and Kilmeade questioned whether Senate Democrats were truly committed to averting a government shutdown, citing their opposition to granting funding for Trump’s wall in exchange for a deal on DACA.

In the show’s first hour, the hosts played clips of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh criticizing Democratic leadership for defending young undocumented immigrants — whom he dubbed “foreigners” — over U.S. citizens.

“So you want to put the military on the shelf for a while?” Limbaugh said. “All you care about is 800,000 foreigners? You don’t care about the United States military? You don't care about American kids? All you care about is 800,000 foreigners, the Dreamers, the DACA kids?”

The hosts added that Trump had made his priorities on immigration “very clear” and that it was up to the Democrats to find a common ground.

“We know exactly what [Trump] wants,” Doocy said. “He wants to get rid of the visa lottery system and also chain migration, and the Democrats want DACA. And that’s it. It’s a simple way to come together, but right now they can’t.”

Friday, 7:04 a.m., Trump accuses Senate Democrats of wanting “illegal immigrants” and a shutdown

“Government Funding Bill past [sic] last night in the House of Representatives,” Trump tweeted. “Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate - but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!”



Government Funding Bill past last night in the House of Representatives. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate - but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018



