President Donald Trump has largely stayed out of the government shutdown brawl on Capitol Hill, which will soon reach its three-week mark.

But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle see Trump as pivotal to ending the impasse centered on Democratic healthcare demands, even as GOP leaders so far want him to steer clear of negotiations.

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Democrats view the president as the ultimate seal of approval for Republicans on any eventual path forward, and consider the self-described master deal-maker more open to negotiations and less ideologically rigid than GOP leaders, who refuse to e

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