Trump said he was willing to shut it down, if Democrats wouldn't allow the piddly 5.7 trillion to fund the wall. He said it was too important not to fight for.
But ultimately, It was the Democrats who stubbornly dug in and refused to compromise, refused to even meet with Trump to discuss it, who left town so they were not even accessible to discuss a resolution with Trump. The Democrat leadership who have jerked around 800,000 federal employees indefinitely, just to spite Trump. And won't even meet with Trump and are deliberately prolonging this, because they rest assured the 80% liberal media (every network but Fox) are on their side and will spin it as Trump's fault, no matter what the facts. They see it as playing in their favor, the longer this shutdown lasts, so they are milking it cynically, and fuck the 800,000 federal employees counting on them to end it.
The cost of the shutdowwn has already far exceeded the amount Trump wanted for the wall. What justification is left at this point?
