President Donald Trump believed the government shutdown would deliver Republicans a swift and decisive political victory. But with the stalemate now likely to spill into a second week, that calculation is looking increasingly shaky.
Democrats are still largely unified behind their demands, defying some Republicans’ predictions they would quickly fold under pressure. In early polling, Americans are just as likely to fault Trump as they are congressional Democrats.
And as the White House prepares a wave of retaliatory mass layoffs, there’s little certainty over how Trump’s efforts to ramp up the pressure will play with the broader public.