Earlier, the president said he would not rule out a government shutdown next month if a bipartisan agreement on border security was not reached.
Donald Trump called for bipartisan agreement on border security including funding for his proposed wall along the Mexican border on Friday. The president tweeted that “after 40 years of talk,” it was “time for action.”
A day earlier, the president threatened to temporarily close the entire border between the US and Mexico amid fears that an approaching Central American migrant caravan could lead to strife along the border area. Trump emphasized that US troops would be allowed to use “lethal force” if necessary to deal with some of the “tremendously dangerous” people in the migrant caravan, who he said have already engaged in mass violence in Mexico.
Asked whether the US government could face a shutdown over lack of agreement on border security, Trump admitted that it was possibile. “It could happen. Over border security. The wall is just a part of border security, a very important part, probably the most important part,” he said.
Trump has pressed his Republican allies in Congress to secure at least $5 billion for the border wall initiative to live up to a campaign promise he made in 2016. However, House Democrats, engaged in an internal political struggle over who will lead the House of Representatives come January, are unlikely to accept the proposed…
