Typically President Trump spends Christmas at Mar-a-Lago, his resort in Florida. But not this year, and that’s due to the continuing partial government shutdown. So he’s having a DC Christmas this year, while First Lady Melania, who left for Florida on Friday, returns to the White House.

And, as is his custom, President Trump tweeted out the news of his DC Christmas plans:

I will not be going to Florida because of the Shutdown – Staying in the White House! #MAGA

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2018

It appears the man is digging in for the long haul. But so is Sen. Chuck Schumer, who blamed Trump’s “temper tantrum” for the shutdown.

Soon-to-be-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also chimed in using a “Dear Colleague” letter, sent to fellow Democrats:

“Until President Trump can publicly commit to a bipartisan resolution, there will be no agreement before January when the new House Democratic Majority will swiftly pass legislation to re-open government.”

Whatever happened to working across the aisle? Oh, wait, that was during other times and other presidents. Plus, we all know that “working across the aisle” is Democrat-speak for “cave in to what we want.”

Meanwhile, President Trump wasted no time during his DC Christmas break, and held a working lunch on Saturday to discuss border security. Trump hosted Sens. Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee, and Reps. Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan, and Matt Gaetz — stalwart supporters of the President’s wall — among others.

However, not all at that lunch were on the same page. Sen. Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, wanted Trump to accept a $1.6 billion deal for the wall, instead of the full $5 billion he wants. That was what Democrats had agreed to some weeks ago.

No dice, said the members of the Freedom Caucus. As the Freedom Caucus head Rep. Mark Meadows told a reporter after the lunch:

“I want to make it very clear $1.6 billion is not going to work for conservatives, it’s not going to work for the president.”

Moreover, Sen. Lindsey Graham added this:

“It’s got to be more than $1.6 billion dollars. I don’t want to accept the idea that you won’t get a penny more.”

Meanwhile, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — who knows a thing or two about illegal border crossings in his state — tore into Sen. Schumer:

“His plan B is to draw an unreasonable line, insist we leave our border unsecured and then shut the government for as long as it takes to cause the president to capitulate.”

Not only that, but Cruz also came up with a creative idea on wall funding: use El Chapo money to pay for the wall.

Credit: DonkeyHotey at flickr.com. (CC by 2.0)

“El Chapo” — real name Joaquin Guzman — is a Mexican drug lord now cooling his heels in an American prison. Cruz thinks the $14 billion the US Government seized from him would go a long way to building a wall:

“Fourteen billion dollars will go a long way toward building a wall that will keep Americans safe and hinder the illegal flow of drugs, weapons, and individuals across our southern border.”

Well, of course it would. Plus it’s sort of a way of “making Mexico pay for the wall,” as President Trump insisted during the 2016 Presidential campaign.

However, it makes too much sense for Congress. Plus, you know that the Democrats would come up with some cockamamie reason to spend it all on something else.

This is, as my husband is fond of saying, a Mexican stand-off. Or is that racist? Who cares? What’s most important is that President Trump uses his DC Christmas break to thwart any Democrat attempt to maintain business-as-usual at our ridiculously porous border.

Featured image: cropped from John Brighenti, flickr.com. (CC by 2.0)