The White House appeared to blink Tuesday in its standoff with Congress over a budget deal that would provide the $5 billion President Trump wants to fund a southern border wall.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the President doesn’t want to shut down the government and had other ways to find the funding for the wall.

It was a very different tone than we heard last week. During a contentious meeting in the Oval Office with Democratic leaders, President Trump had said he was ready to leave the government without funds to operate if he couldn’t get money for his long-promised wall.  The relationship between the President and Congress might become even more difficult come January when Democrats assume the majority in the House of Representatives.

To discuss what this could mean for U.S. policies:

• Eleanor Clift is a political analyst for The Daily Beast and a veteran in the coverage of U.S. politics.
• Lester Munson is a principal in the International at BGR Group, a leading government relations firm.
• Ahmed Younis is an International Security Program Fellow at New America and a former senior official at the U.S. State Department.
• Song Zhang is the Washington Bureau Chief for the Shanghai Wen Hui Daily.

For more:

Last week, President Trump said he'd be "proud" to shut down the government over money for a border wall. Today, his administration appears to be backing away from that threat. https://t.co/XEcmvhzjn3

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 18, 2018

President Donald Trump announced that Mick Mulvaney (right), currently the director of the Office of Management & Budget, will replace outgoing John Kelly as acting White House Chief of Staff https://t.co/YzMfGAjKvA pic.twitter.com/4GGP3qx5LT

— POLITICO (@politico) December 14, 2018

After a dramatic 2018, all three major U.S. stock indexes are on track to end the year lower for the first time since 2008 https://t.co/IMsSL2Z63W

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 18, 2018