Pelosi, Trump spar over wall
President tells Dem leaders he will shut government if his pet project isn’t funded
WASHINGTON — After a nationally televised back-andforth with President Trump over border security and government funding, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi had one conclusion: Trump is putting his “manhood” on the line.
Trump said he was staking everything on constructing a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, declaring he’d be “proud” to own a government shutdown that could result from the standoff.
Their comments encapsulated an eventful day of negotiations between Pelosi, Trump and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, as the three stare down a deadline next week for avoiding a shutdown of much of the federal government. Pelosi, who is still trying to wrap up Democrats’ support to win the House speakership next month, emerged from an Oval Office meeting having publicly called out the president as being divorced from facts and lacking the votes from his own party to get Congress to pay for his wall.
The San Francisco Democrat talked about the meeting
behind closed doors with other Democratic lawmakers after returning from the White House, where Trump said he would gladly own a shutdown if that’s what it takes to build his wall.
“It’s like a manhood thing for him ... this wall thing,” Pelosi said, according to an aide who was in the room at the Capitol. “As if manhood could ever be associated with him.”
Pelosi and Schumer went to the White House to discuss a Dec. 21 deadline to fund roughly one-quarter of the government, including the Department of Homeland Security, which polices the border with Mexico. Democrats are offering $1.6 billion to pay for several border security measures, including a fence in some areas. Trump is insisting on $5 billion to help construct a wall, even though he repeatedly promised during and after the 2016 campaign that Mexico would fund it.
In a remarkable scene, the president invited the media to witness the discussion for more than 15 minutes, as he and the two Democratic leaders went back and forth over who would be blamed for a shutdown. Pelosi branded it a “Trump shutdown,” to which the president replied he had hoped to name it after her.
Schumer and Pelosi told Trump that he was misstating the facts regarding the border and that he did not have the votes to pass his wall money in the House or Senate, even with Republican majorities in both chambers.
Trump noted that any funding bill requires Democratic votes in the Senate because of its 60-vote threshold for moving legislation forward. That’s not the case in the House, however, where Republicans will keep their majority until January. Pelosi told Trump that if he wanted to pass his wall funding in the House, he should prove he has the votes.
It’s a reflection of the different realities for each Democratic leader. Pelosi is under no pressure to concede, because votes from her caucus will be needed only if Republicans can’t agree on a bill. Schumer, however, will be put on the spot if Senate Democrats block a deal from coming to a vote.
Trump is convinced he has a winning issue with border security and the wall.
“If we don’t get what we want, one way or the other — whether it’s through you, through a military, through anything you want to call — I will shut down the government. Absolutely,” Trump said. “I am proud to shut down the government for border security.”
After the meeting, Pelosi colorfully recounted the scene to members of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.
“The press is all there, Chuck is really shouting out. I was trying to be the mom,” Pelosi said, according to the aide who was present. “I can’t explain it to you. It was so wild. It goes to show you: You get into a tinkle contest with a skunk, you get tinkle all over you.”
Trump’s acknowledgment that he would own a shutdown was “an accomplishment” for Democrats, she said.
Pelosi later revealed to reporters that Trump had called her again in the late afternoon. She called it a “pleasant conversation” that brought no progress on the funding standoff.
For his part, Trump called the White House meeting “very friendly” and said he “respects” both leaders, adding that he “could have debated Chuck Schumer for a long period of time.”
He didn’t walk back any of his shutdown threats.
“I don’t mind owning that issue,” Trump said.
House Democrats say Pelosi’s negotiating reflects her caucus’ views on border security.
“She’s a better negotiator and is better able to actually lay out a foundation so the door is always open to a potential win,” said Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M. As chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Lujan Grisham has worked with Pelosi to reject wall funding.
“I think those are the skills and assets that sometimes get diminished and downplayed by others who are interested in the political machinations for this place,” Lujan Grisham said. “I have total respect for Schumer and his leadership, but I think Nancy’s better at it.”