Pelosi is a shrewd political operator, it was clear when Trump reluctantly summoned Schumer and Pelosi thinking he was going to set them up and knock them down on live TV. However Pelosi was so ready for this that when she tagged it the "Trump shutdown", you could see Trump was king hit, but he recovered quickly by instinctively resorting to ridicule as a defence.

"did she say "trump shutdown" he smirked to his aid. Big win for Pelosi, it stung, she used his own tactics against him by tagging it, and tricking him in to making an instant decision to "own it" "proudly". However he decided to change his mind and have the Democrats own it two days later. So he was clearly outfoxed here because he can't change it back. So Trump shutdown it is.

Recently Schumer got Trump again with "I'll meet with him anytime he wants. But the last time I spoke to him was when he threw a temper tantrum and walked out, and we haven't heard from him since then," Trump immediately responded on Twitter denying he angrily walked out. His twitter feed gives away what bothered him.

So the point of this thread is that the Dems have worked Trump out, at first he was like a bacteria without a vaccine but gradually the Dems have worked out how to combat someone like Trump in a more Tai Chi way where you flow with the punches and use the opponents power against them, for example Trump used his power to call a conference and have it televised and Pelosi used this power against Trump.

This whole 'shutdown' fiasco is merely a smokescreen to distract from Mueller whom Trump is powerless to stop now, however Trump doesn't know how to end it. Because it was agreed to be ended but then Trump got talked into this idiotic absolute position by a couple of extreme right wing shock jocks who excoriated him for giving in and painted Trump as a loser who promised a wall to his 'base' and by god this is the moment of truth.

Fearing the loss of his 'base' who is like the elixir of life for Trump, he instantly did what he was told, by his puppet masters.

The beauty of this situation that's 100% Trump being a complete tool, is that the Dems can just sit there concentrating on what they need to do and meanwhile Trump can sit there squirming and ranting and screaming at people to find a way out and still be able to say 'I won'.

Very well put Eau.