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In Fight With ‘Chuck And Nancy,’ Trump Says He’d Be ‘Proud’ To Shut Down Government

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In a testy Oval Office exchange with the two top congressional Democrats, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer, President Trump made clear he would be “proud” to shut down the government in less than two weeks if he doesn’t get funding for his border wall.

 

“I’ll be the one to shut it down. I will take the mantle. And I will shut it down for border security,” Trump told House and Senate Democratic leaders as Vice President Pence sat by stoically.

 

The statement from Trump came in an extraordinary show before the cameras and the press, with minutes of tense back-and-forth with both Pelosi, the likely incoming House speaker, and Schumer, the Senate minority leader.

 

Democratic leaders have made it clear they don’t intend to give the president a victory on funding for his signature border wall.

 

Speaking after the meeting, both Schumer and Pelosi thought they had emerged with the upper hand after seemingly baiting Trump into taking the blame if there’s a partial shutdown just days before Christmas.

 

“This Trump shutdown, this temper tantrum he seems to want to throw, will not get him his wall,” the Senate minority leader told reporters outside the White House.

 

Throughout the meeting, Trump kept insisting that much of the wall has already been built (numerous fact checkers earlier this year determined it hasn’t, which Schumer pointed out) and he’s also said that the military can build the rest.

 

During the 2016 campaign, Trump kept claiming that Mexico would pay to build the wall, but he has since dropped that talking point.

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