The Government passed a stop-gap bill to prevent another government shutdown today; however during bipartisan negotiations Trump said that he would “love to see a shutdown,” if the parties could not come to an agreement over immigration. The comment took place during talks about the MS-13, an international gang. Trump complained that “Democrats don’t want safety.”

It’s a possibility that President Trump was bluffing to achieve greater bargaining strength in the immigration debate. However, if the parties are unable to come to an agreement over immigration, and a government shutdown resulted, it seems likely that Trump would get the brunt of the blame. The majority of people blamed President Trump and Republican Senators for the last shutdown. If another shutdown occured, it could mean a windfall for Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections.

Eric Thayer/Reuters