U.S. financial markets sagged Friday, compounding a selloff the day before, as President Trump threat’s to veto a $1.3 trillion spending bill raised the risk of a government shutdown.
The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 0.9 percent in mid-morning trading, widening 2 percent slides on Thursday after Trump announced tariffs of 25 percent on some Chinese imports. The S&P 500 fluctuated between a net loss and a small gain.
The $1.3 trillion spending bill, which Trump criticized for not including sufficient funding for a wall he wants along the southwestern U.S. border or addressing the plight of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children, passed early Friday morning. Signing it would avert a shutdown when a temporary spending bill expires tonight, and the White House had assured Republican congressional leaders earlier that Trump would do so.
In a post on Twitter on Friday morning, however, the president shifted gears.
“I am considering a VETO,” he wrote. Congress isn’t in session today, and if Trump follows through on his threat, lawmakers could be forced to abandon a pre-Easter vacation and return to Washington.
I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2018
