Pre-christmas wall showdown looms

Trump OKS two weeks of government funding

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — President Donald Trump said Friday that Congress should provide all the money he wants for his promised U.s.-mexico border wall, and he called illegal immigration a “threat to the well-being of every American community.”

Trump spoke hours after signing a short-term spending bill that covers key government departments for two more weeks, until Dec. 21, setting up a pre-christmas showdown over the wall.

The president wants the next spending package to include at least $5 billion for the proposed wall. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California rejected that a day earlier. At an appearance in Kansas City, Missouri, Trump accused Democrats of playing a political game and said it was one that he ultimately would win.

“Congress must fully fund border security in the year-ending funding bill,” Trump said as he helped close the 2018 Project Safe Neighborhoods law enforcement conference, which was sponsored by the Justice Department. “We have to get this done.”

“They’re playing games,” he said of Democrats. “They’re playing political games. I actually think the politics of what they’re doing is very bad for them. We’re going to very soon find out. Maybe I’m not right. But usually I’m right.”

He also said money for a program that encourages federal, state and local authorities to collaborate on crime-fighting strategies was increased by $50 million this year. The president said he will ask Congress for more money next year, but didn’t say how much.

Trump said his administration is giving law enforcement officials the resources they need to do their jobs. He said there are more than 200 new violent crime prosecutors nationwide, and cities have access to $600 million worth of surplus military equipment.