Politico reports that a former White House official "said that Trump’s core supporters and former aides are 'furious' and 'melting down'" over his belated decision to do what always had to be done: Reopen the government. It's more complicated than that, though we'll have to wait for more polling to appreciate the statistics of complication. Until then, all we can do is survey trends among the right's opinion vendors. Having done so, all I can say for now is that it looks rather bleak for Donald Trump.
The Washington Post reports that the Daily Caller bothered not with subtlety, announcing in a headline, "TRUMP CAVES." The Gateway Pundit was just as identically blunt, but with emphasis: "TRUMP CAVES!" Another of its headlines proclaimed "Pelosi’s SECOND BIG WIN This Week." Steve Bannon's former digs, Breitbart, wrote that "The White House finally caved to Democrats
demands, despite Trump’s repeated assertions this week that he would not do so." "Trump blinks," said the Washington Examiner.
Fox News hosts were, as always, mostly congenial about Trump's blunder. For instance after blaming Democrats and "weak-kneed Republicans" for the president's stupidity, Sean Hannity blared that the latter soon would have his national emergency, by God, and "Anyone out there thinking President Trump caved today, you don’t know the Donald Trump I know. He right now holds all the cards — he will secure the border one way or another." (That he could say that Trump "holds all the cards" provides a clue as to the truly surreal world of Sean Hannity.)
Still, Fox's Tucker Carlson asked during a panel session: "You know what erodes your popularity with the public?" Tucker knows: "Weakness." And Lou Dobbs, of Fox Business, said that Speaker Pelosi "has just whipped the president of the United States. It will be perceived as such on every television monitor and screen in the country and to deny it is to escape from reality." I guess Mr. Hannity wasn't listening.
The website Hot Air put it in question form. "Shutdown Fallout: Did Trump Cave?" Its answer was that Trump shouldn't be "[beaten up] for doing the sensible thing, however belatedly, before something terrible happened." The site went on to puzzle what I have often puzzled: Why didn't Trump simply declare a national emergency? Which is probably the next step, anyway. Strictly for humor, I suppose (?), Hot Air concluded: "Don’t worry. We’ll get the wall someday when Republicans have total control of government." Most of Hot Air's commenters were not amused. "Caved," wrote one. "Full blown cave," wrote another. "Epic capitulation," said a third. A fourth tried to see the upside: "It's a cave but it won't hurt him in November 2020."
Power Line also asked, "Did trump Cave?" Answer: "Certainly looks like it." Here, commenters were more dispersed in opinion. One conceded outright, "Yeah.... It’s a cave," while another joked that "Trump got his impenetrable wall. Unfortunately for him, it was named Pelosi." But there was plenty of this, too: "I would call it a strategic retreat. The globalists won this battle but it remains to be seen whether they'll win the war."
Ann Coulter's boiling opinion we already know. Erick Erickson, formerly of RedState, tweeted: "Donald Trump caved to Nancy Pelosi on shutdown, now the wall will never be built."
NeverTrump Republicans were ecstatic, of course. Such as Peter Wehner, who has worked for Reagan and both Bushes: "Pelosi rolled him in every way. Egged on by right wingers, the whole thing was buffoonish from start to finish," and "One of Trump's main attractions to his GOP base was their belief that he was 'strong,' 'tough' a 'fighter' who wouldn't back down. The showdown with Pelosi showed he was none of these things. Whether they voice it or not, this will damage Trump with the right."
I finish with Wehner because his conclusion is also mine. On the right, Trump is now damaged goods. That he not only caved but caved to a woman — a San Francisco liberal, no less — is a humiliation no "tough fighter" among right-wing goons would abide. Trump is not one of them, after all. He is, instead, as Ann Coulter said, a wimp … "Whether they voice it or not."