Talks to try to end a partial U.S. government shutdown came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday afternoon after President Donald Trump walked out of a meeting with congressional Democrat leaders at the White House.
Calling the meeting “total waste of time” on Twitter, Trump said he left after asking Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer if they would approve a “wall or steel barrier” at the border with Mexico if he ended the shutdown.
“Nancy said, NO,” the president tweeted. “I said bye-bye, nothing else works!”
Schumer called Trump’s actions “really, really unfortunate” and called his behaviour “a temper tantrum.”
Speaking to reporters afterward, U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence — who was also at the meeting — disagreed with Schumer’s characterization of the president’s actions, saying, “I don’t recall him ever raising his voice.”
Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time. I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!
The Democrats were “unwilling to even negotiate,” Pence said. “I think the president made his position very clear today that there will be no deal without a wall.”
In a live televised address from the Oval Office on Tuesday night, Trump reiterated his position that a wall or barrier is essential to national security, calling the situation at the southern border “a crisis.”
The dispute about funding the wall — Trump is demanding $5.7 billion US to help build it — led to about a quarter of U.S. agencies shutting down before Christmas when he said he wouldn’t sign a federal budget that didn’t include that funding.
That shutdown has left about 800,000 government workers furloughed or working without pay, and is affecting national parks, airline security screening, housing and food aid, and economic data.
from Update Trend News http://bit.ly/2CZprMN
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