PAY FOR WALL OR IT’S A SHUTDOWN, TRUMP VOWS

Bickering in public with Democratic leaders, President Donald Trump threatened repeatedly on Tuesday to shut down the government if Congress doesn’t provide the money he says is needed to build a wall at the Mexican border.

Trump’s comments came as he opened a contentious meeting with Democratic Senate and House leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, with a partial shutdown looming on Dec. 21.

The president and Pelosi tangled over who was holding up his proposal. Trump and Schumer jabbed at each other over who will be blamed if a shutdown occurs.

“If we don’t get what we want, one way or the other ... I will shut down the government,” Trump ultimately declared. “I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down.”

Pelosi later boasted that she and Schumer goaded the president to “fully own that the shutdown was his.”