Trump lost, huge. And in this instance his loss is also the country's loss.
The man who was going to drain the swamp was instead overcome by it. People can disagree about who defeated him - Pelosi, gutless Congressional Republicans, the six R Senators, the media, etc. But whoever defeated him, he was defeated on his signature issue.
Naive faith that he has a plan, he knows how to build walls, he never quits, is simply whistling past the graveyard by those who can't admit that they backed a losing horse who loudly proclaimed himself a winner.
Exactly what leverage does Trump now have to get the wall built? Yes he could make bellicose statements that he'll let the government close down in February and *keep* it closed down. But what would make the Democrats, the gutless Congressional Republicans, or the media operate any differently next time? Why would there be a different outcome?
He can still declare a national emergency, and I hope he will. But we all know that would immediately be stayed by a Federal Court. The time required for that question to work through the Federal Judiciary will occupy the remainder of his term, and there is no guarantee the Roberts-led USSC would rule in Trump's favor.
Yes, he is better than a Democrat president. Yes, he has put two Constitutionalists on the USSC. Yes, he has taken a clear position against regulation. Yes, the market boomed after his election. But his signature issue, the reason he ran, was The Wall and he lost it. It is now proven empirically that he is not capable of doing what he said, and what many believed, he could do.
If he runs again I'll most likely vote for him, but my bet is that his administration is essentially finished.
