How Trump went down

Inside the White House

Will Trump just stop doing the job when he finally realizes he's not getting any wall money any time over the next two years?

Will he become a ghost haunting the White House?

Pictures on Friday of delayed aircraft at LaGuardia Airport in his hometown — the same tarmac Trump's black, red and gold Boeing 757 is usually staged — sealed what had been a days-long realization that the shutdown must end, according to officials.

The previous evening, Trump heard from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a phone call that Republicans could no longer hold the line in support of his border wall demands. 

Trump, who was briefed by aides of looming law enforcement and airport problems, later phoned McConnell back to tell him he was ready to end the stalemate.

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Trump remains hopeful that some moderate Democrats will join him in supporting funding for a border wall after the funding measure expires in mid-February. 

Administration officials say he would be willing to accept less than the $5.7 billion he has insisted upon in an attempt to strike an accord.

Acknowledging a new political reality with Pelosi in charge, one adviser said the only way forward for Trump is "compromise," with little room for the no-holds-barred approach favored by advisers like Stephen Miller, the immigration hardliner.

"Today is not a cave but a grave for Stephen Miller policies," the adviser said, acknowledging it's not clear at all that Trump is ready to make that kind of course correction.

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Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and other senior aides have tried to gauge which issues Trump wants to take up after the border fight is done— be it drug pricing, trade, infrastructure, or something else. 

But they've made little progress. 

Trump does expect to meet next month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but even those plans have taken second billing to the border standoff.

That's a bad omen for some conservatives and policy-minded officials, many of whom say they believe Trump doesn't appreciate how finite his presidency really is.

For Trump, the border wall -- which began as a rhetorical device at his campaign rallies — has become something much larger, an extension of himself so personal that he can't let it go.