White House officials, at the start of the shutdown, were certain the Trump administration was better positioned to battle the left during a funding lapse.

In early October, several Trump administration officials had a friendly pool going of how long the shutdown would last. The White House, at the time, was confident Democrats would quickly fold.

No one guessed more than 10 days.

The account, relayed by a person close to the White House granted anonymity to discuss internal thinking, underscores just how much the administration miscalculated the Democrats’ will to keep the government closed even amid furloughs and imperiled social programs like food assistance.

As the shutdown heads into its second month, Donald Trump is increasingly frustrated. On Thursday, he called for Republicans to abolish the filibuster to reopen the government — a plea he knows is futile, but that demonstrates his growing irritation with Democrats, said a second person close to the White House.

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    Draining the swamp – Vowed to clean up Washington fast, but faced entrenched bureaucracy and ethics scandals.

    Well, and some things are complete delusion on his part as well as conservatives. If anything, Taco created the swamp.

    Reviving coal jobs – Claimed fast resurgence, but the industry continued to decline.

    And some things, for instance, this and the wall and repealing ACA, and ruining/“overhauling” education, are just plain not worth doing.