President Trump on Thursday offered up a plea for border wall funding, stealing just a bit of Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s, D-Calif., thunder on the day she became House speaker.
“The people of our country want it. I’ve never had so much support,” Trump said, speaking to a half-empty room after reporters received little notice of a briefing. It was the first time Trump delivered remarks in the White House briefing room.
Trump on border wall: “The people of our country want it. I’ve never had so much support as I have in the last week over my stance for border security, for border control and for, frankly, wall or the barrier. “https://t.co/daPQF0DNDA pic.twitter.com/QsUzU6NiP6
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 3, 2019
Trump congratulated Pelosi before indicating he would not give up his demand for Mexico border wall funding despite Democratic control of the House. Trump’s bid for a wall is the core dispute in an ongoing partial government shutdown, now in its 13th day.
“I have never had anything like it in terms of calls coming in and in terms of people writing in and tweeting and doing whatever they have to do. I’ve never had this much support, and we’ve done some things, as you know, that have been very popular,” Trump said.
The partial shutdown is impacting roughly 800,000 federal workers, who are missing paychecks as the standoff continues but will be reimbursed once there is a deal.
Pelosi has said House Democrats will not approve money for a wall, balking at Trump’s request for more than $5 billion. The White House has reportedly dangled a deal for around $2.5 billion, but Democrats have refused it. Pelosi and other congressional leaders are expected at the White House for talks Friday morning.
Trump was joined on stage by U.S. Border Patrol agents who spoke in favor of a physical barrier along the southern border with Mexico.
“Without a wall, you cannot have border security,” Trump said.
