Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, said Thursday that Mr. Trump is just as committed to building a border wall as he was during the campaign.
“He’s going to stick to building that wall, and he wants the money to pay for it. The president ran on building the wall, won on building the wall and remains steadfastly committed to doing it,” Mrs. Conway said on Fox News.
Mr. Trump said in his speech in Arizona on Tuesday that he would shutdown the government if border wall funding is not provided in the upcoming spending bill.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Wednesday at a speech in Oregon that a shutdown would not be “necessary” and that he does not want the government to shutdown. Mr. Ryan said a continuing resolution would likely be needed to keep the government open past September, however, since lawmakers will have less than two weeks to pass a spending measure when they return on Sept. 5.
“[Mr. Trump is] telling Congress he’s building the wall, he expects the funding, and its up to them it’s up to them to work collaboratively,” Mrs Conway said.
She added that she hopes senators like Sen. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican, will support the president’s agenda despite growing tension between the two.
“We certainly hope Sen. Flake will continue to support the agenda he ran on, and the president ran on. That includes repealing and replacing Obamacare,” she said. “We also know Sen. Flake is for lower taxes. We hope we can rely on him for tax reform.”
Mr. Flake’s book heavily criticized the president accusing him of not being conservative, while Mr. Trump has slammed Mr. Flake on Twitter for being “weak” on border security.
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump shutdown threat over border wall funding blasted by Democrats
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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