President Trump said Thursday that he would stand tough in his fight with congressional Democrats to get border security funding.
“We have to put safety first,” Mr. Trump said at a White House event surrounded by lawmakers.
The fight over border security threatens to cause a government shutdown if the two sides can’t strike a deal on spending by Friday.
The president said he was giving a face-saving option to Democrats who fiercely oppose building a wall on the southern border, saying he was calling the barrier “steel slats” rather than a wall.
He said a barrier was “essential to border security” and would help stem the flow of illegal immigrants, drugs and criminals, including “coyotes” smuggling children into the U.S.
“I look forward to signing a bill that fulfills our fundamental duty to the American people,” said Mr. Trump.
The Senate passed a stopgap spending bill late Wednesday that did not include fudging for a border wall. At the time, it was believed the deal had White House approval.
Mr. Trump bucked the deal Thursday, telling House GOP leaders he wouldn’t sign it and sending them back to start over.
The negotiations are complicated by the rapid departure of senators from Washington after the stopgap measure passed.
The president made building a border wall and cracking down on illegal immigration the hallmark of his 2016 campaign.
But he said Democrats, including those on the far-left, should embrace border security as good for all Americans.
“No one who calls themselves a progressive shouldn’t be for open borders,” he said, adding that poor Americans are hurt the most by illegal immigration.
The cheap labor supplied by illegal immigrants is believed to suppress wages in the U.S., with the most substantial effects at the bottom of the wage scale.
The president remained convinced that Democrats would come around to his point of view on border security.
“It should be bipartisan,” he said of a vote to fund border security. “I think it will end up being bipartisan, I really do.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.