Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump (File/Getty)

A tweet from Donald Trump raises the possibility that he may be wavering over his shutdown of the Federal Government, demanding $5.7 billion for his Wall with Mexico.

Since the closure on December 21, when he rejected a Senate plan that would have added $1.3 billion for border security — but not for his 30-foot-tall concrete barrier — Trump has maintained his position through declarations, insults, and lies.

But Democrats take control of the House of Representatives on Thursday and have promised to put through a continuing resolution, with the $1.3 billion, reopening the Government. That would present Trump and the Senate GOP leadership from accepting the proposal without Wall funding or persisting with the shutdown.

TrumpWatch, Day 711: Democrats Prepare to End Trump Shutdown…without The Wall

On Tuesday, Trump continued his stream of invective — including against a retired general for supposedly being “fired like a dog” with “his big, dumb mouth” — but appeared to cracked open a window for compromise.

Three hours after declaring “Democrats do not care about Open Borders and all of the crime and drugs that Open Borders bring”, he changed tack with a message to the incoming House Speaker.

Trump also invited Democrat as well as Republican congressional leaders to the White House for a discussion on border security on Wednesday.

The White House gave no details on any line for the meeting. Nor was it clear if the session is being coordinated with Homeland Security briefings of the top two leaders in each party in the House and Senate.

In previous televised meetings with Congressional leaders on immigration and gun control, Trump has swung erratically between refusal to budge and suddenly indicating possible acceptance of Democrat ideas.

Pelosi seized on Trump’s apparent invitation to her:

Trump Insults General McChrystal

Almost alone in the White House through the holidays, Trump continued his erratic Twitter stream on Tuesday. He tried to convert a defiant speech of Kim Jong-un, declaring no unilateral moves by Pyongyang on its nuclear program, into a victory for his June 2018 photo opportunity with the North Korean leader: “[I] look forward to meeting with Chairman Kim who realizes so well that North Korea possesses great economic potential!”

He tried to take credit for “low gas prices” (“like another Tax Cut!”);
lavished praise on the and repeated the distorted claim that Democrats are blocking 350 of his nominees for Government positions.

But the headline was in Trump’s outburst at Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of US forces in Afghanistan.

On Sunday, McChrystal joined other former high-ranking officers in criticism of Trump, fed by Trump’s impulsive decision over a withdrawal from Syria that brought the resignation of Defense Secretary and former four-star general Jim Mattis. He said Trump is untruthful and immoral.

Trump saw a polemic by Fox’s Laura Ingraham against the general. He then tweeted:

McChrystal, a decorated specialist on counter-insurgency seen as a rising star in the US Army, was forced to resign in 2010 after disparaging comments about Obama administration officials that were revealed in a Rolling Stone article.

Trump, unsettled by the challenge to his impulsive Syria decision, has insulted other commanders including Mattis. When the Defense Secretary put coded criticism of Trump in his resignation letter, Trump moved forward Mattis’ date of departure from February 28 to December 31.

TrumpWatch, Day 703: Angry Trump Orders Mattis to Leave Next Week