Trump in furious attack on Democrats over budget impasse
President launches Twitter rant against opposition amid stalemate over his emergency finance plan
DONALD TRUMP launched a furious attack on the Democrats in a flurry of tweets yesterday, accusing the opposition party of trying to bring about a government “shut down” and damage America.
Infuriated by a stalemate in the Congress over whether to approve an emergency funding package to keep the lights on in government, President Trump launched an undiplomatic tirade.
“I promise to rebuild our military and secure our border,” he declared. “Democrats want to shut down the government. Politics!”
Mr Trump issued his diatribe in six tweets posted in quick succession.
Democrat politicians are threatening to oppose the short-term funding extension, if Republicans – at the behest of the White House – forge ahead with a vote to repeal the Obamacare public health provisions this week.
Mr Trump is hoping to set his healthcare plans in motion in a bid to secure at least one major part of his agenda ahead of the 100-day mark of his presidency tomorrow.
In working to get Democrats to approve a new budget, Mr Trump has been forced to make concessions, including dropping his demand for money to build his border wall with Mexico.
“Democrats used to support border security – now they want illegals to pour through our borders,” Mr Trump wrote in his third online message.
Democrats in Congress said they may not support the emergency funding package if it does not include spending for Obamacare subsidies that lower health expenses for low-income Americans, via insurers.
“What’s more important? Rebuilding our military – or bailing out insurance companies? Ask the Democrats,” Mr Trump wrote.
“Democrats jeopardising the safety of our troops to bail out their donors from insurance companies. It is time to put #AmericaFirst,” he added.
Mr Trump said retired coal miners, part of a constituency that he promised to support in his election campaign, would be among those who suffer if the functions of government are forced to shut down because they would not receive their pensions and health packages.
“I want to help our miners while the Democrats are blocking their healthcare,” he wrote.
He also accused his opponents of ruining summer holidays: “As families prepare for summer vacations in our National Parks – Democrats threaten to close them and shut down the government. Terrible!” he wrote.
At a briefing last night, Sean Spicer the White House press secretary, sought to justify the rant by saying that Democrats had imposed several lastminute “monkey wrenches” to stop the funding package.
“They keep moving the goal posts,” Mr Spicer said, adding that the White House would not allow them to “gum up” legislation that is in the “best interests of this country”.
Matt House, a spokesman for Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Democratcs in the Senate, said: “These shut down tweets are desperate, unhinged, and show a startling lack of awareness for where the negotiations actually are.”
The development came as Mr Trump backed away from suggestions that he would end the North American Free Trade Agreement ( Nafta), a pact which he railed against as a presidential candidate and, even this week, declared that it is harmful to US workers.
Mexico, Canada and the United States form one of the world’s biggest trading blocs, and trade disruptions between them could cause havoc in car manufacture, agriculture, energy and other sectors.
Following phone calls with Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, and Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico’s president, the White House said Mr Trump “agreed to proceed swiftly” to enable to a “renegotiation”.
Mr Trump added: “Now, if I’m unable to make a fair deal for the United States, meaning a fair deal for our workers and our companies, I will terminate Nafta. But we’re going to give renegotiation a good strong show.”
Mr Trudeau said that he had told Mr Trump that cancelling the entire trade agreement would cause a lot of disruption, which he said had swayed the president to shift his stance.
Mr Trudeau told reporters that the pair had a good conversation and that Mr Trump had told him he was seriously considering withdrawing from the 23-year-old pact.
“I’m happy to engage with the president regularly,” Mr Trudeau added.
“What we’ve talked about over the last couple of days is trade and I’ve been emphasising that Nafta has been improved a dozen times over the last 20 years.”
“We’re happy to sit down and talk about how it can be improved now for our citizens and improved economic growth for our countries and we will continue to amplify the impact and strength of the North American economy,” he added.