Trump may declare emergency
of declaring a national emergency has become more attractive to Trump. Although an emergency declaration would face legal challenges, it would provide him a way to reopen the government without appearing to cave in on his demand for a wall.
Trump has received conflicting advice about declaring an emergency from administration aides and friends outside of Washington. Some view it as an effective way out of the prolonged stalemate that would still show the president’s supporters that he continues to fight to achieve his signature campaign promise. Others, however, have expressed concerns.
Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, the ranking Republican on President Donald Trump Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) were more difficult to negotiate with than the Chinese.
He also reprised his blanket denunciations of Democrats from the campaign trail.
‘‘I really believe the Democrats don’t care about crime,’’ he said. ‘‘They’ve been taken over by young people who – I really believe this – I think they’re crazy.’’
Trump did, however, leave the door open to a legislative compromise.
Senior White House aides and GOP senators have had conversations in recent days about some sort of funding package that might include the additional wall funding the president wants as well as something to entice Democrats to accept it.
‘‘I’m OK making a compromise,’’ Trump said. ‘‘Compromise is in my vocabulary very strongly.’’ But the president would not accept the premise that responsibility for resolving the shutdown is his alone.
‘‘The buck stops with everybody,’’ he said.– LA Times The Russian military says one of its early warning satellites has been taken safely out of orbit. The military’s aerospace forces said yesterday that the Kosmos 2430 satellite burned in the atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean during a pre-planned re-entry on Saturday. The statement said aerospace forces controlled the satellite’s descent. It said the satellite was launched in 2007 as part of the early warning system that monitors for launches of ballistic missiles and the end of its time in service originally was designated as 2012. Many New Zealanders watched the satellite’s fiery re-entry and cameras at a cricket match captured images of its descent. The Sea Shepherd environmental group published a video yesterday showing an attack by about two dozen small fishing boats on the vessel Farley Mowat in Mexico’s Gulf of California. Fishermen in the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, have long complained about environmentalists trying to protect the vaquita marina, the world’s smallest and most endangered porpoise. Sea Shepherd said fishermen threw lead weights and tried to douse the Farley Mowat and waters around it with gasoline on Thursday. The video shows some of the fishing boats carried gill nets, though they are banned within the reserve designed to protect the vaquita. The vaquita is nearing extinction because of gill nets set illegally to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder commands astronomical prices because it is considered a delicacy in China. Some fishermen threw a net in front of the Farley Mowat to foul the propellers of the Sea Shepherd vessel. Others boarded the ship and apparently carried off some items. The Farley Mowat’s crew can be seen using a hose to repel some of the smaller boats.