Donald Trump signs bill reopening government for 3 Weeks in surprise retreat from Wall

The plan will fund the government until Feb. 15 while Republicans and Democrats negotiate over border security. The plan includes none of the money for the border wall that he had demanded.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House on Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Trump agreed Friday to reopen the federal government for three weeks while negotiations proceeded over how to secure the nation’s southwestern border, backing down after a monthlong standoff failed to force Democrats to give him billions of dollars for his long-promised wall. (Sarah Silbiger/The New York Times)

Written by Nicholas Fandos, Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Peter Baker

President Donald Trump agreed Friday to reopen the federal government for three weeks while negotiations continued over how to secure the nation’s southwestern border, backing down after a monthlong standoff failed to force Democrats to give him billions of dollars for his long-promised wall.

The president’s concession paved the way for the House and the Senate to both pass a stopgap spending bill by voice vote. Trump signed it Friday night, restoring normal operations at a series of federal agencies until Feb. 15 and opening the way to paying the 800,000 federal workers who have been furloughed or forced to work without pay for 35 days.

The plan includes none of the money for the wall Trump had demanded and was essentially the same approach he rejected at the end of December and that Democrats have advocated since. Trump presented the agreement with congressional leaders as a victory anyway, and indicated in a speech in the Rose Garden that his cease-fire may only be temporary.

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Trump defends wall project as he announces deal to reopen govt

President Donald Trump staunchly defends his wall project, saying the United States really has "no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier", as he announces a deal with Democrats to temporarily reopen the US federal government.

“We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier,” Trump said. “If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on Feb. 15, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and Constitution of the United States to address this emergency.”

Demonstrators gather in the Hart Senate Office Building atrium to protest the government shutdown, in Washington, Jan. 23, 2019. With the shutdown now in its second month and 800,000 federal employees about to miss a second paycheck, pressure is rising on both parties to reopen the government. (Sarah Silbiger/The New York Times)

But Trump conceded “we do not need 2,000 miles of concrete wall from sea to shining sea — we never did” and invoked the utility of “smart walls” that substitute some physical barriers for drones and other sensors.