Trump vows shutdown if border wall unfunded
GOP not on board with idea so close to midterm elections.
President WASHINGTON —
Donald Trump said Monday he would have “no problem” shutting down the federal government this year if Congress doesn’t agree to provide additional border security funding.
Trump’s statement puts him at odds with members of his own party in Congress, where many Republicans are facing tough re-election fights this November. Government funding expires at the end of September, just weeks before the midterm elections. A shutdown would be the second under unified Republican control of Washington, following a weekend stoppage in January.
Asked about specific requirements, Trump said he had no “red line” for what must be approved, and he made no comment on timing — before or after the election.
“I’ll always leave room for negotiation,” he said.
“I would have no problem doing a shutdown,” Trump said during a joint press conference at the White House with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. “It’s time we had border security.”
His comments echoed his unexpected tweet a day earlier that “I would be willing to ‘shut down’ government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!”
“Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT!” he tweeted.
Trump returned to the idea after a meeting at the White House last week with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., where they were said to have agreed on the way forward on government funding for the budget year that starts Oct. 1.
McConnell told a radio interviewer last week that a shutdown so close to the Nov. 6 midterm elections won’t happen.
Ryan said on Capitol Hill after the meeting: “The president’s willing to be patient to make sure that we get what we need so that we can get that done.” He added that money for the wall was “not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”
Trump has pledged to campaign aggressively, starting after Labor Day, to help Republicans retain control of the House and Senate, but GOP lawmakers don’t appear to be rallying to his side on this idea.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that it would be unhelpful to shut down the government just before elections “so let’s try and avoid it.”