Moderate Democrats refused to be pawns in Trump's attempt to split them away from Speaker Pelosi when they were invited to a last-minute lunch, planned by the White House to lure them to the dark side. This was an action by a naïve and unsophisticated White House, whose intent was even too obvious for Democratic members from the Blue Dog Coalition. They were asked to the White House to discuss funding for president's promised border wall and a partial government shutdown now nearing the one-month mark.