Of course, Democrats have an agenda here. They have publicly stated that any measure to extend spending also include more than $1 trillion to continue Obamacare subsidies and reverse cuts to Medicaid and other health programs that Republicans made last summer. So, at least at this point, Democrats are positioning themselves as fighting for health care while Republicans are positioning themselves as going it alone.

That is clearly the place where Trump is most comfortable. He openly hates his opponents — and I don't mean Vladimir Putin. He said it out loud at Charlie Kirk's funeral. Why should he have to work with people he hates?

The answer — which he seeks to avoid at all costs — is because this is a democracy, and this is how a democracy works. There are times for division and times for bipartisan unity. Keeping the government open should be a time for unity. No one wants to be responsible for Social Security checks getting delayed or for the IRS not answering the phones. For Trump to think he can go this one alone and not be blamed for it, or better yet, blame the Democrats, is pure folly. Everyone will be blamed, starting with Trump.

We are as divided and polarized as a nation as we have not been in recent history. Our politics are toxic. It infects our families almost as much as it infects Washington. I can't believe this is what a majority of Americans want or what they voted for when they cast their ballots for Trump. Trump voters also have a big interest in protecting Obamacare and Medicaid, as Trump surely must know. How can a meeting with Democrats not be a useful way to at least show that you are trying to pull this country together and do right by it?

"No one wants a shutdown, but agreeing to a deal that can be revoked whenever Trump demands it isn't responsible," Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, said. "It only teaches the other side that they can do it again and again."

And they have. In 2018, what were supposed to be private meetings morphed into a televised airing of grievances roughly a week ahead of the shutdown deadline. Trump reportedly was optimistic about working with Democrats to come up with a compromise. It didn't happen. The government shut down for 34 days, the longest in our history. No one wins with a repeat of that.

To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.