[Hoot Gibson]

Being an effective President of the U.S. requires some political skills and it takes courage. Making empty threats to veto budget bills that do not fund a border wall has robbed Trump of all credibility on this issue.

If Trump does not have the stomach to take on Ryan and McConnell on this issue, then he should at the very least stop making empty promises to build a wall and focus attention on areas where he is not so impotent. At this point, Trump sounds ridiculous when he continues to claim that he is going to "build that wall."

Trump's continuing failure in this area is risking not only control of the House in next month's election, but control of the Senate and the White House in 2020. If President Trump cannot persuade his own party to enact legislation to make good on his signature campaign promise, why should anybody believe that he will do any better when faced with Speaker Pelosi or Majority Leader Schumer?

Few Republican presidents in modern history have been fortunate enough to serve while their own party controlled both houses of Congress. Things will not get any easier for Trump than they have been for the past two years.