President Donald Trump’s decision to blunt the political impact of a government shutdown is giving Democrats fewer reasons to back down from their demands and raising the prospect of an even longer impasse.

Almost two weeks into the shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, Trump decided on Saturday to divert money to pay the 1.3 million active service members who were at risk of missing a paycheck on Wednesday. Before that, he opted to use tariff revenue to keep a welfare program for new mothers and their babies afloat.