The Morning Briefing: Trump to Visit NOTACRISIS Border and Much, Much More

Good Thursday morning.

Here is what’s on the President’s agenda today:

The president arrives at McAllen International Airport
President Trump participates in a roundtable on immigration and border security
The president arrives at the Rio Grande
President Trump receives a briefing on border security
The president returns to the White House

Trump walks out of meeting with Chuck & Nancy

Nothing says “Democrat” like two cranky, old, rich white people. Let’s keep this geriatric duo in front of the cameras for awhile.

President Trump walked out of the “total waste of time” meeting yesterday when it became clear that Pelosi would not negotiate at all.

Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time. I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2019

Can you imagine all the things you could get out of Trump if you were willing to negotiate over that wall? If I were a Dreamer, I’d be pissed. If I were any one of the special interest groups that the Democrats claim to represent I would be angry too. Here is an opportunity to get some stuff out of Trump and Chuck & Nancy are blowing it. But we all know that the Dems want Trump to lose his wall more than they want their constituents to win.

“He couldn’t get his way and he just walked out of the meeting,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “[Trump] sort of slammed the table … He just walked out and said, ‘We have nothing to discuss.’”

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) denied that Trump slammed the table.

“I think we might work a deal, and if we don’t, I may go that route,” [Trump] said, referring to an emergency declaration to fund the wall.

“I have the absolute right to do [a] national emergency if I want.”

“My threshold will be if I can’t make a deal with people that are unreasonable.”

You can’t make a deal with these Democrats, as they are unreasonable.

Nielsen: Dems’ attitude on border wall ‘offensive,’ ‘disrespectful’

HELLO WALL FUNDING DOD IG Reveals The Pentagon Let $27.7 Billion ‘Expire’ As Trump Seeks $5.7 Billion In Border Wall Funding

Kirstjen Nielsen Praises Trump, Scolds Democrats For Claiming Border Crisis Is ‘Manufactured’

Trump going to visit the border, where there is NOTACRISIS

Today, the president is heading down to McAllen, TX, to visit the NOTACRISIS U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump is scheduled to visit near the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas, a city of 143,000 on the river, on Thursday, which would be the 20th day of the ongoing partial federal government shutdown affecting nearly 800,000 federal workers. Trump is expected to be joined by his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

While details on Trump’s travel schedule are scant, a local paper reported that advance teams from the Secret Service have locked down the Anzalduas Park in Mission, Texas that “sits along the Rio Grande in the shadow of the Anzalduas International Bridge and is frequently patrolled by Border Patrol agents attempting to intercept those crossing into the country illegally.”

The media coverage should be interesting so stay tuned.

Sob stories from federal workers pile up

The media has been collecting hard-knock government employee stories since one minute after the shutdown. They want to poison the public animus against Trump by showing you how awful, how much of a struggle, how punishing this shutdown is to the federal worker caught up in the immigration mess. Some workers have even started a GoFundMe to help them along during these difficult times.

Julie Burr, a contractor from Kansas City, Mo., has collected $10,673, more than doubling her goal of $5,000, after she said she was a single mom struggling with two kids and appearing on CNN.

GoFundMe has already seen about 1,000 campaigns raising more than $100,000 to support those affected by the shutdown.

But most of the accounts aren’t taking in much more than a few hundred bucks.

A Coast Guard member, Janton Lewis, from Staten Island is seeking $4,000 for “bills and rent” through GoFundMe.

I don’t feel too bad for federal workers. Yes, it is unfortunate that they may not get paid on time, but people who work for the government know of this risk; after all, this isn’t the first government shutdown. But government workers also have other benefits those of us in the private sector don’t have. Do you know how hard it is to get fired from a government job? Who in the private sector has that kind of job security? The benefit packages for fed workers and and their pensions are pretty sweet and better than most private sector employees would get. So, yes, this is a risk of being a federal employee who is rewarded with a pretty nice overall job situation. Not much sympathy here.

Historical picture of the day:

Ray Bradbury, science fiction writer, is surrounded by toys and treasures in his Beverly Hills, Ca., office Jan. 10, 1986. Bradbury has his own television series, “The Ray Bradbury Theater” on Home Box Office. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac)

Other morsels:

Waste of money Pelosi receives 10,000 roses at Capitol Hill office courtesy of online fundraiser

I am rolling my eyes so hard. Selling extremism: Nationalist streetwear and the rise of the far right

Our media betters: New York Times issues correction to bombshell report on Manafort, Oleg Deripaska

Journalist group asks courts to loosen secrecy in Mueller subpoena fight

New Florida bill would repeal gun control measures passed in response to Parkland shooting

Trump again threatens to cut off FEMA funds for California

California governor’s wife to go by ‘first partner’ to acknowledge gender equality

She *is* on the left Ana Navarro Loses It When Steve Cortes Says She’s On The Left

US officials say it’s safe to eat romaine lettuce again

Ashley Judd’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein dismissed

Impeach him for what? Beating a Democrat? Billionaire activist Tom Steyer says he will focus on impeaching Donald Trump