Trumpty Dumpty Promised a Wall. Trumpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall.

Yesterday morning, we were hearing that Donald Trump was willing to risk shutting down the entire government to get funding for his border wall—a central promise of his campaign.

But, by the end of the day, Trump was already throwing in the towel on one of his signature policies.

But with a Friday deadline looming to pass a new spending bill, the Trump administration projected confidence that a shutdown would be avoided. In the face of fierce Democratic opposition to funding the wall's construction, White House officials signaled Monday that the president may be open to an agreement that includes money for border security if not specifically for a wall, with an emphasis on technology and border agents rather than a structure.

Trump showed even more flexibility Monday afternoon, telling conservative journalists in a private meeting that he was open to delaying funding for wall construction until September, a White House official confirmed.

Oh dear! The Loser President is afraid of another spectacular failure, so he's just caving in and betraying all the people who voted for him to fight for that lousy, despicable wall because of their economic insecurity. Sorry, folks! You're always going to lose if Trump's ego is at risk!

As Josh Marshall notes, this is an "abject surrender," as Trump is "giving in and will either accept non-wall money and pretend it's like a wall or just give the whole thing up entirely and try again in the fall, which likely means never."

His last desperate gambit is sending out his surrogates to redefine his once-promised "tall, beautiful wall" as a metaphor.

"There will never be a 2,200-mile wall built, period," said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a supporter of immigration reform who challenged Trump in the 2016 primaries. "I think it's become symbolic of better border security. It's a code word for better border security. If you make it about actually building a 2,200-mile wall, that's a bridge too far — but I'm mixing my metaphors."

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a key appropriator and member of Senate leadership, said that "there could be a wall in some places and technology in other places," implying that there would not be funding for the wall sketched out in campaign rhetoric. "I think you're going to get a down payment on border security generally," he said.

So much winning.

Trump is collapsing because he is a coward. And, don't get me wrong, I'm glad that the chances a ginormous wall will be built along the southern border are crumbling.

But while Trump being a craven president with no firm principles for which he's willing to fight is good news on domestic policy, it is terrifying to contemplate what that means for foreign policy. Powerful cowards are very dangerous. Especially powerful cowards who have only earned praise for dropping bombs.

As he concedes this battle, as healthcare reform stalls, as Sally Yates is scheduled to testify in the Senate Russia probe, as his approval rating swirls in the bowl, he will desperately wanting a new, more flattering message.

And as North Korea [video may autoplay] continues to escalate, I am very nervous about the reckless measures he will take to change the conversation.

So: The good news is that Trumpty Dumpty's wall is probably off the table. The bad news is that every win for decency is accompanied by the cold shiver of knowing that Trump's failures make him ever more dangerous.