In hierarchies, the top needs to be able to pass accountability and blame down the rungs to the lower levels. Trump blew his chance.
David Frum in The Atlantic states that Trump allows no room for bartering. "In this budget shutdown, Trump discarded his leverage from the very
start, by declaring for the cameras that the budget shutdown was his decision,
his responsibility. When the shutdown began to hurt, Trump and his
surrogates hastily tried to transfer the onus—but it was too late.
Everybody knew that it was Trump’s doing, and that it was done for
reasons rejected by large majorities of Americans."
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/01/trump-speech/579850/?fbclid=IwAR2x2hztt10Gs8vMvJReMvuJIPwoVlv6upiXcDh3igSzPq5SgGTsUMhYP7c
