President coy on border deal but expected to sign
President WASHINGTON —
Donald Trump isn’t showing his hand yet. But with little Washington appetite for another shutdown, he’s expected to grudgingly accept an agreement that would keep the government open but provide just a fraction of the money he’s been demanding for his Mexican border wall.
Addressing the deal at the White House Wednesday, Trump said he would be taking “a very serious look” at the text when the White House receives it from Congress. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill were still haggling over final details, but they appeared on track to fin- ish soon.
“We’re going to look at the legislation when it comes and I’ll make a determination,” Trump said, telling reporters he’d be looking out for any “land mines.”
Still, he reiterated his aver- sion to another shutdown, the likely result if he rejects the agreement, saying one would be “a terrible thing.”
White House officials cautioned on Wednesday that they have yet to receive full legislative lan- guage. And Trump has a history of suddenly balk- ing at deals after signaling he would sign them. But bar- ring any major changes, he is nonetheless expected to acquiesce, according to two White House officials and other Republicans close to the White House who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t autho- rized to speak publicly.
Trump and his aides have also signaled that he is preparing to use executive action to try to secure additional funding for the wall by shift- ing federal dollars without congressional sign-off.
Accepting the deal, worked out by congressional negotiators from both parties, would be a disappointment for a president who has repeat- edly insisted he needs $5.7 billion for a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border and painted the project as paramount for national security. Trump turned down a simi- lar deal in December, forc- ing the 35-day partial shut- down that left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without paychecks and Republicans reeling.
Lawmakers tentatively agreed to a deal that would provide nearly $1.4 billion for border barriers and keep the government funded for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. Filling in the details has taken some time, as is typical, and aides reported Wednesday that the measure had hit some snags, though they doubted they would prove fatal.
Last-minute hang- ups include whether to include a simple extension of the Violence Against Women Act as Senate Republicans want or move a new, lon- ger-term bill separately, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is pushing.
Democrats are also pressi ng to try to make sure employees of federal con- tractors receive back pay for wages lost during the last shutdown. The continued haggling means that a House vote can’t come before tonight, at the earliest. Given the back-andforth, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters the president was awaiting a final version before making a final call.
“We want to see the final piece of legislation, and we’ll make a determination at that point,” she said Wednesday.
Trump added that, no matter what, “The wall is being built as we speak.”
“We’re going to have a great wall. It’s going to be a great, powerful wall,” he said.
In conversations with allies, however, Trump has complained about the deal, calling the committee mem- bers poor negotiators, said a person familiar with the conversations who was not authorized to speak publicly. Trump has also made clear that he’d wanted more money for the wall and has expressed concern the plan is being spun as a defeat for him in the media.