With his disapproval rating rising and the majority of Americans blaming him and the Republicans in Congress for the government shutdown, Donald Trump went on TV this afternoon to announce a deal to temporarily reopen the government.

Under the deal, apparently supported by congressional leaders: The government will open for three weeks, until Feb. 15. Government workers will receive back pay “very quickly” or as soon as possible. The proposal will go on the Senate floor soon.

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He said the deal was bipartisan. He said Democrats had agreed that border security would be part of the solution. A bipartisan committee will review specifics of what’s needed on security, Trump said. They are to produce home security legislation that Trump said he hoped to sign.

A deal can show the political parties are united when it comes to protecting the country, he said. He also said walls should not be controversial. They work, he said.

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Republicans, at last, had been urging Trump to seek his border wall money through regular legislation, rather than holding all of the government hostage. Democrats have long expressed willingness to provide money for border security, if not simply to build a wall hundreds of mile long.

Trump was supposed to appear at 12:30 p.m. Central, but the announcement was delayed almost an hour.

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He said he’d put off declaring an emergency for now. He prefaced the specifics of the deal with fulsome remarks praising government workers. “You are very, very special people,” he said.

He spoke at length about security — see-through steel barriers, electronic devices, drones. “We do not need 2,000 miles of concrete wall. We never did. We never proposed that.” But he said physical barriers will be needed, along with greater drug detection technology. He embroidered at length on dangerous immigrants, standard campaign stump Trump stuff. But it’s cover for the bottom line.

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Trump’s concession was a big win for the Republican-hated Nancy Pelosi. (Maybe you see now why tearing her down was such a central part of their campaigns. Looking at you, French Hill. You may have won, but who’s your momma?)

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I(f he doesn’t get a “fair deal” on a wall or steel barrier, Trump said he’d shut government again or declare an emergency. He took no questions.

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