President Trump Wednesday during his trip to Iraq put the onus of the government shutdown on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggesting she doesn’t want a deal because it would damage her efforts to become House speaker in the new Congress.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Trump claimed, is more amenable to an agreement.
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“Nancy Pelosi is calling the shots, not Chuck. And Chuck wants to have this done, I really believe that,” Trump said, according to Bloomberg. “But she’s calling the shots, and she’s calling them because she wants the votes, and probably if they do something she’s not going to get the votes and she’s not going to speaker of the House and that would not be good for her.”
Trump’s visit to Iraq occurs on the fifth day of a partial government shutdown over Trump’s demand for Mexico border wall funding. The impasse is affecting roughly 800,000 federal workers.
Trump has continued to stand firm in his demand for Congress to allocate funding for his border wall, even as Democratic leaders have rebuffed his requests and sought to blame the president for prolonging the shutdown over his signature campaign promise. Speaking in Iraq, Trump reiterated “we’re going to have a wall,” according to Bloomberg. “We’re going to have safety,” the president said.
[Related: Trump demands border wall for Christmas]
