The following article by Eliana Johnson and Burgess Everett was posted on the Politico website January 18, 2018:
White House aides say the president woke up spoiling for a fight and focused his attention on the spending deal after it came up on his favorite cable news show.
If the government shuts down on Friday, President Donald Trump’s television habits may be partly to blame, according to two White House aides.
The president began the day on Thursday by blasting out a tweet that threatened to derail a GOP legislative package designed to keep the government open, arguing that the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known by its acronym, CHIP, “should be part of a long-term solution, not a 30-day, or short-term, extension.” But that is precisely the package House Speaker Paul Ryan was trying to persuade skeptical Republicans to agree to in order to keep the government open. Continue reading “How Trump’s TV habits raised the risk of a shutdown”