Pelosi says for Trump, wall is a ‘manhood’ thing
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is unloading on President Donald Trump after their “wild” Oval Office confrontation over government funding.
Speaking to Democratic lawmakers back at the Capitol, Pelosi boasted on Tuesday that she and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer goaded Trump to “fully own that the shutdown was his.”
Trump threatened again to shut down part of the government next week if Democrats did not agree to fund his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Pelosi says: “It’s like a manhood thing for him. As if manhood could ever be associated with him. This wall thing.”
She adds of the meeting: “It goes to show you: You get into a tickle contest with a skunk, you get tinkle all over you.”
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he is hoping for a “smooth ending” to the dispute over government funding that avoids a partial shutdown.
The Kentucky Republican told reporters he hopes the standoff doesn’t run past the Dec. 21 deadline for funding parts of the government. President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to force a shutdown if Congress doesn’t fund his border wall.
McConnell says “we all watched” the combative Oval Office meeting earlier in the day with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
He says, “I’d like to see a smooth ending here. I haven’t given up hope.”
McConnell also said “magic” sometimes happens in the halls of Congress ahead of Christmas, when lawmakers are eager to leave Washington.
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A closed-door meeting between President Donald Trump and congressional leaders lasted barely 30 minutes Tuesday after a heated televised opening session “spiraled downwards,” in the words of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Speaking outside the White House after the Oval Office meeting, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted Trump over his renewed threat to shut down part of the government over funding of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Schumer said, “This temper tantrum that he seems to throw will not get him his wall.”
Pelosi said Trump does not have the votes in the House to secure the billions he wants to fulfill his promise to build a wall.
Schumer says if Trump doesn’t change course, “He will get no wall and he will get a shutdown.”
Government funding for some agencies is set to expire on Dec. 21, threatening a partial shutdown.
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President Donald Trump is escalating his shutdown threat over U.S.-Mexico border wall funding at a heated White House meeting with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.
Trump said during the open-press session Tuesday that, “If we don’t have border security, we’ll shut down the government.” He says his long-promised wall will be built one way or another.
Government funding for some agencies is set to expire on Dec. 21, threatening a partial shutdown.
Schumer and Pelosi are urging the president to find another solution, with Schumer saying “we shouldn’t shut down the government over a dispute.”
Trump is responding by saying he’s “proud to shut down the government” and says he will “take the mantle.”
Pelosi is also commenting on the meeting’s acrimony, noting “this has spiraled downwards.”
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7:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump says the military will build his promised border wall “if Democrats do not give us the votes to secure our Country.”
Trump tweets Tuesday that immigration and border patrol agents and the military have done a “FANTASTIC” job securing the border with Mexico. But Trump says “A Great Wall” would be a “far easier & less expensive solution.” He claims Democrats don’t want border security for “strictly political reasons.”
Some government funding expires on Dec. 21 and the risk of shutdown looms if Trump and Democrats Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi can’t reach agreement when they meet Tuesday at the White House.
Trump wants at least $5 billion for the wall in the next funding package. Democrats are offering $1.3 billion for fencing and other border security measures.
