# Please Explain Trump's Latest Shutdown Threat **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 12, 2018, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977 "2018-12-12T04:02:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/21 "2018-12-12T14:00:46Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > The Democrats were supposed to threaten to shut down the government to prevent the border wall spending. Trump stuck his foot in his mouth and offered to shut down the government for them. I want the booze and antacid concessions for GOP offices. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/22 "2018-12-12T14:06:54Z")
Steve Schmidt on Pence’s performance at the meeting: > [@](#): > > If you sit like that on a commercial airliner, what will happen is all the flight attendants will have a meeting upfront to decide which one will check his pulse. Maybe Pence was just trying to keep from checking out Nancy’s legs. Good heavens, for Donald to say he’d be happy to shut the government down over this is manna from heaven for the Democrats. Way to give away any leverage you might have, O Master Negotiator you. And where the heck are these sections of new wall that you keep boasting of? Are they made of super fine material, like your new suit? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/23 "2018-12-12T15:10:53Z")
Maybe Pence thought he could turn invisible, like [Drax](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRGCaIg_NT4). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/24 "2018-12-12T15:10:54Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I think before that meeting Trump said to Puppet Pence " Just sit there and don’t say anything. I got this." I’ve heard Pence’s performance compared to Elf on a Shelf. The rigidity, the vapid expression, just the eyes following … ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/25 "2018-12-12T15:25:00Z")
I am sure that Individual-1’s base™ is only too happy to hear him say he’s going to shut down the government. He isn’t worried. The rest of the Republicans are, but not him. On the other hand, Pelosi just won the fight for the speaker’s chair. The only person in the room who lost reputation was Pence. His batteries definitely need replacing. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/26 "2018-12-12T15:29:39Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > The only person in the room who lost reputation was Pence. His batteries definitely need replacing. Or topping off his embalming fluid. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/27 "2018-12-12T15:48:07Z")
What was Pence supposed to do exactly? “Shhh, Mr. President, you’re embarrassing yourself!” Trump was handling things exactly the way he wanted them to be handled: like a train wreck. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/28 "2018-12-12T16:01:13Z")
I think Pence got the short end of the stick here. He was probably told not to say anything, so why be there at all? Or he was told never to contradict Donald, so when Donald contradicts himself Pence has nothing he can say. In any event, Pence got humiliated for no particular reason. ---
**Author:** ![amyanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@amyanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amyanders)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/29 "2018-12-12T16:04:53Z")
I don’t think Trump really knows when he’s being played. He tried to be smart and get confrontational with Nancy and Chuck, so that it plays out well in front of his base, that he is fighting for the wall. Chuck goaded him into admitting that he’s threatening to shut down his own government, and once he took the bait they just probably chuckled to themselves and let it play out. Pence looked super uncomfortable throughout the whole conversation, and was probably wishing he was anywhere else in the world, but on that chair. [deleted link] ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/30 "2018-12-12T16:21:58Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think Pence got the short end of the stick here. He was probably told not to say anything, so why be there at all? Or he was told never to contradict Donald, so when Donald contradicts himself Pence has nothing he can say. In any event, Pence got humiliated for no particular reason. To the people who count in their eyes, all that mattered was that Pence was in the room, on camera, staring down the libs while Trump put them in their place. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/31 "2018-12-12T16:22:53Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > I want the booze and antacid concessions for GOP offices. Hell with that, I’ll deliver the revolver and bullet (singular) to the Senate Majority leader’s office myself. * * * Given that Orange Julius Caesar just stepped into the biggest bucket of Brown Applesauce of the year, how far are Republicans going to go to help him clean it off? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/32 "2018-12-12T16:24:44Z")
He was there just in case Trump felt like placing a water bottle on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/33 "2018-12-12T17:08:37Z")
In answer to the OP, it is only a [partial](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-11/shutdown-impact-would-be-limited-as-only-some-agencies-unfunded) government shutdown that is being threatened. Much of the government including Defense, HHS, Education and Labor have previously been funded well into 2019. The remaining portions ,including DHS, had sticking points in negotiations and so were only funded until Dec 21st. Presumably you work for part of the government that falls in the first category. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/34 "2018-12-12T17:21:13Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > In answer to the OP, it is only a [partial](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-11/shutdown-impact-would-be-limited-as-only-some-agencies-unfunded) government shutdown that is being threatened. Much of the government including Defense, HHS, Education and Labor have previously been funded well into 2019. The remaining portions ,including DHS, had sticking points in negotiations and so were only funded until Dec 21st. > > Presumably you work for part of the government that falls in the first category. Agree, and Trump thinks he has a bargaining chip with the shutdown threat, unless he gets $5B for building the border wall (the one Mexico was supposed to pay for). ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/35 "2018-12-12T17:59:13Z")
> [@amyanders](#): > > I don’t think Trump really knows when he’s being played. He tried to be smart and get confrontational with Nancy and Chuck, so that it plays out well in front of his base, that he is fighting for the wall. Chuck goaded him into admitting that he’s threatening to shut down his own government, and once he took the bait they just probably chuckled to themselves and let it play out. Pence looked super uncomfortable throughout the whole conversation, and was probably wishing he was anywhere else in the world, but on that chair. > > [deleted link] Welcome to the Straight Dope. I removed a link you included to a commercial site. Such links are not prohibited per se, but yours looked like spam so I removed it. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/36 "2018-12-12T18:45:56Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > i am sorry if I am being dense, but how exactly can Trump threaten a Government shutdown if no funding is provided for the infamous Wall (along the southern US border)? I am under the impression the FY-19 budget passed. I work for the Federal Government, and I never heard a single word of threat of a shutdown come Sep 2018. Now, all of a sudden, Trump is screaming for funding when the deed is (presumably) done for FY-19? Can someone explain this? Did I miss something? [2 clicks can explain it all](https://twitter.com/KeithLockwood2/status/1072858184547749889). ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/37 "2018-12-12T22:46:59Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > In answer to the OP, it is only a [partial](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-11/shutdown-impact-would-be-limited-as-only-some-agencies-unfunded) government shutdown that is being threatened. Much of the government including Defense, HHS, Education and Labor have previously been funded well into 2019. The remaining portions ,including DHS, had sticking points in negotiations and so were only funded until Dec 21st. > > Presumably you work for part of the government that falls in the first category. Thank you for actually answering the OP! I myself work for the part of the government that isn’t yet funded, and would shut down. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/38 "2018-12-12T23:01:05Z")
Trump just threatened to step on his own dick if he does not get his way. Brilliant 4D chess move, Mr. Trump! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/39 "2018-12-13T00:56:52Z")
Well, not defending Trump, but toadstools are hard to see and get stepped on all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977/40 "2018-12-13T02:57:08Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I am sure that Individual-1’s base™ is only too happy to hear him say he’s going to shut down the government. He isn’t worried. The rest of the Republicans are, but not him. > > On the other hand, Pelosi just won the fight for the speaker’s chair. > > The only person in the room who lost reputation was Pence. His batteries definitely need replacing. I missed it in whatever live news coverage it was on back in the US since I’m overseas, but [here is the Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual-1) entry for “Individual-1”. Anyway, when did that moniker first get attached to the neon goblin in the White House? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-trumps-latest-shutdown-threat/825977.md?page=3)