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In heated on-camera clash, Trump bickers with top Democrats on border wall


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In heated on-camera clash, Trump bickers with top Democrats on border wall

By Roberta Rampton and Susan Cornwell

 

2018-12-11T194230Z_1_LYNXMPEEBA1GF_RTROPTP_4_USA-TRUMP-CONGRESS.JPG

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as he meets with Schumer and House Speaker designate Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump openly fought with the top two Democratic lawmakers in the Oval Office on Tuesday about government funding, throwing into question whether a deal was possible ahead of a deadline later this month.

 

In a remarkable public argument, the likes of which is seldom seen before cameras, Trump brawled with U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi about funding for the wall he has promised to build on the southern border with Mexico.

 

"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," Trump said as the heated argument drew to a crescendo.

 

"I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck, because the people of this country don’t want criminals and people that have lots of problems and drugs pouring into our country," he said before reporters left their ringside seats.

 

Vice President Mike Pence sat beside Trump, silent and stone faced.

 

Congress wants to finalise spending before a Dec. 21 deadline. While Trump's fellow Republicans control the House of Representatives and Senate until next month, Democratic support is needed to pass spending legislation.

 

If the impasse cannot be resolved by Dec. 21, about one-quarter of the federal government immediately would be left without funding. Money for the rest of the government already has been appropriated.

 

Ironically, in boasting he was "proud" to shut down the government for border security, Trump would be shuttering the very agency in charge of border security - the Department of Homeland Security. In past shutdown battles, workers deemed "essential" were instructed to work.

 

Other federal agencies that also would face closures include the departments of State, Commerce and Agriculture, while visitors would not be allowed into federal parks.

 

Trump has asked Congress for $5 billion for border security, while Schumer and Pelosi said they offered to extend funding at current levels, around $1.3 billion. That is less than the $1.6 billion a bipartisan Senate committee approved.

 

When he ran for president in 2016, Trump vowed that a U.S.-Mexico border wall would be built and that Mexico would pay the full cost, an idea the Mexican government never embraced.

 

The meeting did not last long after reporters were ushered out of the Oval Office. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement it was a "constructive dialogue" and said Trump was "grateful" cameras captured him fighting to protect the border.

 

Back on Capitol Hill, Schumer accused Trump of throwing a tantrum but said Trump told the Democrats he would consider their budget proposals, Schumer told reporters.

 

Pelosi, who told reporters she thought the Democrats had left things "in a pretty good place," said she had askedTrump to pray to about resolving the dispute, recounting the biblical story of King Solomon asking God for wisdom.

 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, told reporters, "I'd still like to see a smooth ending here and I haven't given up hope that's what we'll have."

 

'IT'S CALLED TRANSPARENCY'

This rocky meeting was the first Trump held with Pelosi and Schumer since Democrats won control of the House in Nov. 6 elections, possibly foreshadowing battles to come next year.

 

The fight kicked off when Pelosi told Trump that Americans did not want to see a "Trump shutdown," touching a nerve. Trump cut off Pelosi, arguing that he could not advance a funding bill without Democratic votes in the Senate.

 

"If I needed the votes for the wall in the House, I would have them in one session, it would be done," Trump bragged.

 

"Well then - go do it, go do it," Pelosi shot back.

 

Senior White House staff watched the melee from the edges of the room, among them Jared Kushner and IvankaTrump, outgoing Chief of Staff John Kelly, immigration adviser Stephen Miller and Shahira Knight, his legislative director.

 

"I don't think we should have a debate in front of the press on this," Pelosi said.

 

"We're doing this in a very friendly manner," Trump said.

 

Then Schumer brought up "Pinocchios" that Trump had been awarded by the Washington Post for misstatements on the issue and accused him of wanting to get his own way.

 

"Let's call a halt to this," Pelosi said as the two went at it. "It's not bad, Nancy - it's called transparency," Trump said.

 

When Pelosi brought up Republican election losses in the House, Trump retorted that his party won the Senate.

 

"When the president brags that he won North Dakota and Indiana, he's in real trouble," Schumer said to the astonished press capturing the back-and-forth.

 

Trump said that both sides agreed there was a need for border security.

 

"Yes, we do," Schumer said.

 

"Good," Trump said.

 

"We do," Schumer said.

 

"See, we get along," Trump said.

 

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Susan Cornwell Doina Chiacu, Amanda Becker, David Alexander, Lisa Lambert and Susan Heavey; additional reporting by David Morgan; writing by Richard Cowan; editing by Phil Berlowitz and Cynthia Osterman)

 
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-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-12
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5 minutes ago, Hummin said:

So tell me what a cosmetic media strategic wall would help for? Stop terrorist from coming in? Drugs? Criminals? Some of you really believe that?

 

What function does a lock have on a door? People can simply break it right? What function does a fence have on a yard? 

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7 minutes ago, UncleTouchyFingers said:

 

Weird. Seems everyone has already forgotten the SchumerShutdown that we just had at the beginning of the year, and how the Dems folded after what? 2 days? And the Dems took a publicity beating for it. 

 

Now ole Nancy is gonna give it a try & threw the first salvo at Trump trying frame the narrative with "TrumpShutdown" & promptly got dragged. Publicly. 

 

Again, excellent job, Mr President. Keep them in the public eye & show the citizens how little the Top Dems care about border security. 

Yeah, even though Trump's plan for the wall is hugely unpopular, he's going to win by shutting down the government over it.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-voter-analysis

https://www.npr.org/2018/12/11/675334306/poll-americans-want-trump-to-compromise-on-border-wall-amid-possible-shutdown

 

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6 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Let me know one thing, how come your high security jails, is full of drugs? How can you explain that? 

 

Because often times guards are paid off and people smuggle drugs in by stuffing them in their anus. Try stuffing a Honduran caravan up your anus. I don't mean that to be overly rude it is an example of how ridiculous these arguments are.

 

Now ask yourself what would happen if the prison had  no walls or security of any kind.

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4 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Have you ever seen a tunnel? ????

 

Do such tunnels occur naturally with no effort required to build them? Again the wall is in addition to heightened security such as patrols, detection, drones etc. 

 

Yes prisoners can tunnel out of a prison like El Chapo. The fact is 99.9999% don't.

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