I can guarantee you the headline you’ll see in the papers tomorrow. It will be some deviation of “Pelosi Shows Trump Who’s Boss,” “Trump Caved,” or “Democrats Win Big!” The Democrats are celebrating right now, and rightfully so. In a Rose Garden speech on Friday, President Trump ended the government shutdown on day 35, over one month since it began. Seemingly, he took the words of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to heart: Open the government before we will make a deal about border security.

(JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

So, it appears the Democrats got exactly what they wanted. The question begs to be asked: Why did President Trump make this deal and seemingly give the Democrats everything they wanted? Was there a point to holding out for over a month if the plan was to give in eventually? Anyone who has watched the President during both his political and non-political career knows one thing to be very true: Donald Trump doesn’t lose deals. There is a reason that his most famous book is titled ‘Trump: The Art of the Deal.‘

If you think #TrumpCaved then you have never read Art of The Deal. — Kambree Kawahine Koa – Text EMPOWER to 88022 (@KamVTV) January 25, 2019

Ask Yourself, Does President Trump Ever Just Give In?

The short, easy answer is no. He doesn’t ever give in, unless it is a play in the larger deal he is looking to secure. Let’s continue with that basis, then. What could be the larger play here?

President Trump has changed the narrative in one fell swoop. During this shutdown, the Democrats had an easy scapegoat – the Congressional Republicans. When this government shutdown began, Republicans still held both the House and the Senate, even if the House Republicans were in a lame-duck pattern. The Democrats knew that and played that narrative hard. All Nancy Pelosi had to say was, “I didn’t start this shutdown. It began before I was even speaker!” The problem is, she’s right. The House was under the “leadership” of Paul Ryan, which isn’t saying much.

Now the Democrats have lost that leverage. Over the last several weeks, every major Democrat in the House and Senate have decried the shutdown as wrong and thoughtless, all the while promising a deal if the President would simply open the government for a few weeks and let the people get paid. The President has given them just what they asked for.

A 3 week funding deal is good. This gets workers paid, he can do a State of the Union where he changes the narrative and Democrats get the pressure now. They said they’d negotiate after the shutdown so they have 3 weeks to agree on a deal with wall funding or it’s their shutdown. — Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) January 25, 2019

So What Happens From Here?

Now the Democrats have to own their promises. They have to work with President Trump and the Republicans to secure the border. If they don’t, two very important things are going to happen: 1) this will undoubtedly be their shutdown and 2) President Trump will prove that they are liars who never intended to secure the border.

President Trump just decided to go on offense. He took the ball back from the Democrats who were simply pushing him to use the nuclear option and designate the national emergency. This action, though not popular on its face, has a great opportunity to be an amazing play. President Trump is allowing the Democrats to hang themselves with their own lies. Don’t be down in the dumps this weekend over this speech. The liberal talking heads will try to discourage Trump’s base with today’s events. There is a reason they’re crowing so loudly. They need you to believe them. That’s the only way they win – to dilute the Trump base.

Don’t just trust me, trust the President’s record. History tells us one thing, he just doesn’t make bad deals.