The framework would provide $1.375 billion for barriers along the border, including 55 miles of new fencing, with certain restrictions on the location, according to a congressional official familiar with the agreement. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been made public.

While Democrats relented on demands for a tight cap on beds available to hold immigrants, the number of available spots will nevertheless decline somewhat — to the consternation of hard-line anti-immigration activists. Right-wingers quickly figured out that they’d lost their battle. Trump lost this fight when he ended the shutdown; this was simply the nail in the coffin.

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Trump, who might not have known the outcome of the negotiations before taking the stage, hollered at the crowd that he’d build the wall no matter what. He egged on the audience as it chanted “Lock her up,” more than two years after beating Hillary Clinton in the presidential race and while under scrutiny himself in a slew of investigations. It was more of the same — insults directed at O’Rourke (whom Trump said had only his first name going for him), lies that money from tariffs flowed into the U.S. Treasury, defensive meanderings to explain why he didn’t have a dog (after a weekend observing Democratic contenders’ cute pets, I tweeted in jest on Monday that we should never elect a president who didn’t have a dog), exaggerated crime figures and so on. It’s the same nonsensical, incoherent rambling that only his hard-line base appreciates; to others, he sounds unhinged and desperate. (Trump, as he is accustomed to do, bragged about his crowd size; multiple reports suggested it was about the same size as, if not smaller than, O’Rourke’s gathering.)

Meanwhile, O’Rourke took the higher ground. “We, together, we are making a stand for the truth against lies and hate and ignorance and intolerance,” he told the crowd. “We are going to show the country who we are.” He declared, “With the eyes of the country upon us, all of you together are going to make our stand in one of the safest cities in the United States of America. Safe not because of walls but in spite of walls.”

Trump and his apologists could vent their anger, claiming that Democrats wanted “open borders.” The reality, however, was that Democrats and Republicans without Trump could reach a common-sense border security deal. No wall is needed. The country at large, which staunchly opposed the shutdown and never supported a wall, is likely to react positively to news of the deal — unless, of course, Trump has another temper tantrum and shuts the government down. At this point, however, not even his own party in the Senate likely would support him on that score.

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Trump is left with his cultlike followers, vague threats to “finish” the wall regardless of Congress, his mindless chants and his sycophantic right-wing media. As for the rest of the country, most Americans have little reason to pay attention to his rants. He’s not setting policy nor saying anything new. In fact, he has become a bit of a bore.