It is fitting that the United States marked the first anniversary of the inauguration of Donald Trump as president with a government shutdown, which ended Monday as Congress passed a temporary funding bill. But the historical event — the first shutdown ever when the same party controlled both the White House and the Congress — encapsulates the Trump administration's style of governance, is indicative of the breakdown of trust between not only the two parties but also the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and makes plain the continuing dysfunction in Washington — a source of concern for Japan and other U.S. allies and partners.

The crux of this dispute is the fate of the 800,000 "Dreamers" who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and who have grown up there. President Barack Obama created the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which essentially provided them amnesty. Immigration hardliners have been incensed by that and demanded it be halted. Trump did that last year, but called on Congress to offer them protections before the program expires in March. While majorities in both parties say they do not want to deport DACA recipients, they cannot agree on the terms of a deal that would keep them in the country — Republicans want concessions on defense and border security — as well as the timing of any vote. Without a deal on the Dreamers, Democrats have withheld support for a bill to fund the government; hence the shutdown.

Partisan divisions have been exacerbated by bad blood between Democrats and the White House. Democrats say that they have twice come close to striking deals that would keep the government open only to have the president renege on the agreements. As Chuck Schumer, head of the Democratic Party in the Senate, complained, "it is like negotiating with Jell-O." Even Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the GOP leader in the Senate and ostensibly one of the president's closest allies in Congress, has conceded that he does not know what the president wants in a deal. Most observers, including some Republicans, blame immigration hardliners who will tolerate no compromise on the issue and who have the president's ear; chief among them are Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and White House advisor Stephen Miller.