WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would be proud to shut down the government later this month if he cant get taxpayer money to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico.
The remarks were aimed at House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer during an extraordinary Oval Office sparring session held partly in front of reporters.
We have to have a wall. … I will take the mantle of shutting it down. I will shut it down for border security, Trump said during the encounter, in which the leaders exchanged political barbs with cameras rolling.
Elections have consequences, Mr. President, Schumer said, noting that Democrats seized the House majority during last months midterm election.
The combative Oval Office appearance came at the start of what was supposed to be a negotiation over how to fund a portion of the government by the Dec. 21 shutdown deadline, and whether border wall money would be approved as part of the package.
Instead the three leaders chastised, corrected and interrupted one another repeatedly, a preview of what a divided government will look like next year when Democrats control the House. The meeting, which ended not long after the media was escorted away, did not appear to resolve the standoff.
Democrats have offered $1.6 billion for border security, but Trump is demanding $5 billion for a wall. During the campaign, Trump had promised Mexico would pay for the wall.
The tense exchange could make a holiday shutdown in which a small portion of government operations would cease more likely. Trump fully accepted political responsibility for a shutdown, giving
Democrats little reason to give in to his demands or help provide votes to avoid one.
Schumer, D-N.Y., and Pelosi, D-Calif., repeatedly made the case against shutting down the government, saying it would only hurt American workers and the economy. Vice President Mike Pence sat in on the meeting but did not say a word while reporters were in the room. Shortly after the meeting, he huddled with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill.
At several points, Pelosi and Schumer tried to cut off the public theatrics and suggested continuing the conversation in private. Instead, Trump allowed cameras to stay in the room for 15 minutes. Its called transparency, he said.
It was the latest in a string of public negotiating sessions in front of television cameras that Trump seems to enjoy and thrive on.
Trump and Pelosi bickered over whether the president even had the support of his own party to use taxpayer funds for a wall.
If I needed the votes for the wall in the House, I would have them in one session. It would be done, Trump said.
Pelosi responded confidently that he doesnt have the support in the House. Well, then go do it. Go do it. … You will not win.
Even as Trump seemed to embrace a shutdown, he has also been preparing his conservative base for the possibility that he wont get funding for the wall. Earlier Tuesday, the president tweeted that the military would build the wall if Democrats didnt agree to fund it. He also claimed falsely that much of the wall he promised has already been built.
