Article snippet: MORE is presenting himself as both a hard-liner and would-be dealmaker as the government shutdown hits the one-week mark. It’s a mix that he may hope will throw off Democrats but also leaves some members of his own party unsure of his ultimate intentions. On Friday morning, Trump unleashed a series of tweets threatening to seal the southern border and cut off U.S. aid to three Central American nations unless he got funding for a border wall. But at other times this week he has struck a more flexible tone, suggesting that there is wriggle room on exactly what kind of structural barrier he would accept on the border and how much money he wants to see provided to build it. Those divergent signals are themselves testament to the political dynamics of the moment. Trump at one point this month seemed likely to sign a stopgap spending measure passed by the Senate that included no new funding for the border wall. He hardened his position only after coming under fire from conservative commentators who feared he was going soft on one of his signature campaign promises. One of those critics, radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, later claimed that Trump “got word” to him that he would veto any spending measure that did not include wall funding. But virtually no one in either party believes Trump has the leverage to extract the $5 billion in wall funding that he initially sought, given that Democrats will take control of the House on Jan. 3. Allies of the president have soug... Link to the full article to read more