To the Editor:

Re “President Plays Shutdown Card, Flustering G.O.P.” (front page, July 30):

Now President Trump has threatened to shut down the government if the Democrats do not give him the votes for border security, including the wall. The border wall was one of Mr. Trump’s primary campaign promises. Of course, he also promised, time and time again, that Mexico would pay for the wall.

I would think that if Mexico puts up the required $25 billion to fund the wall, Congress would have no problem voting for it. I would hope that in the event Mexico does not pay for the wall — and Mexico has, not surprisingly, said it would not — Congress will not appropriate the money for the wall.

My guess is that Mr. Trump is not really prepared for the consequences if he shuts down the government . But if he does it, voters are going to blame him and not the Democrats. And the consequences for Mr. Trump and the Republicans will not be pretty. By the way, I am a Republican.

Gerald S. Tanenbaum

Pound Ridge, N.Y.

To the Editor:

When toddlers in a supermarket scream for junk food, they may rage till they’re blue in the face, but it’s short-lived and they quickly find something else to do. Likewise the child in the White House: He may throw a temper tantrum and frighten some less experienced minders, but there’s plenty to distract him on the gravy train and he’ll be demanding something else before we can spell shutdown.