Wall.

Build The Wall was an early election pledge that became a favourite chant at his campaign rallies.

It’s the issue which has led to a partial shutdown of the Federal government, because Democrats refuse to pay for it.

And yet after asking the television networks to clear their schedules so he could address the American people on the subject, Mr Trump almost seemed reluctant to use the word.

Even when he did finally mention the wall it was only as “part of an overall approach to border security” and announced that “at the request of Democrats it will be a steel barrier rather than a concrete wall”.

Democrats have requested no such thing. They oppose spending money on something which Mr Trump always claimed he would get the Mexican government to pay for.

He tugged at the heartstrings by talking about a humanitarian crisis, with women and children suffering in their attempts to get into America. But he also raised the spectre of murder and other crimes committed by illegal aliens to justify increased border security.

Televised addresses from the Oval Office have fallen out of fashion over the past decade. This was Mr Trump’s first, after two years in office.

President Obama rarely requested airtime, nor did George W Bush.

The huge increase in the number of entertainment channels means the big networks are reluctant to interrupt their schedules and rolling news channels are available for those who want their fix of politics.

And besides, Mr Trump has his own favourite conduit for sharing his thoughts uninterrupted. Twitter.

But Mr Trump felt he needed more than a string of Tweets to try to break the stalemate with Democrats in Congress who refuse to find the $5.7bn dollars which he has requested.

He doesn’t like being blamed for the government shutdown which is affecting 800,000 workers – even though he said he’s prepared for it to go on for weeks or months.

He genuinely believes that the issue of illegal immigration and a border wall is still an electoral asset. The next presidential election is almost two years away, but his campaign is already paying for TV adverts condemning Democrats for opposing his policy.

Mr Trump and his allies fear that if he doesn’t deliver some kind of wall, many of his supporters will feel badly let down. If he can’t build the “big beautiful wall” he promised, he needs to pin the blame on Democrats and let them take the heat.

Mr Trump had publicly mused that he could declare a national emergency, bypass Congress and channel defence funds into the project. He’s been warned that it could lead to a lengthy legal wrangle that he might lose.

It might still be an option if the political deadlock continues, because he can then blame federal judges for stopping him getting his way.

He just can’t admit that his pledge to make Mexico pay for the wall was either a fantasy or a lie.

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