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President Donald Trump dropped the news casually at the very end of a White House roundtable this past Thursday. “A friend of mine”—he said the man preferred not to use his name—“he called us the other day, and he said, I’d like to contribute any shortfall you have because of the Democrat shutdown,” Trump said. The money would go to pay the armed forces while the government is closed. “Today, he sent us a check for $130 million.”

I am running out of words for astonishing, but I hope Americans are not running out of astonishment. This announcement is troubling in many ways, including the idea o

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