HILDALGO, Tex. (NBC) – President Trump landed in south Texas a day after meeting with Republicans on Capitol Hill and Democratic leaders at the White House where talks about the budget and border wall apparently fell apart.
Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer said of the meeting, “Again, we saw a temper tantrum because he couldn’t get his way so he just walked out of the meeting.”
President Donald Trump responded, “I don’t have temper tantrums. It plays to his narrative, It’s a lie.”
The president is doubling down and digging in on his demand to build a wall along the border. “I think we’re getting closer but we really have to think about the people of our country, this is not a fight I wanted, I didn’t want this fight,” he said.
The president insists a barrier is needed to battle the threat of terrorism, gangs, drug and human trafficking.
Democrats—who have offered more than a billion dollars for border security—say a wall is not the answer. “He is holding the American people hostage to his ineffective expensive wall,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The number of people apprehended at the border has dropped dramatically since 2000.
As the government shutdown over the issue now stretches to its 20th day, the president is threatening to side-step Congress by declaring a national emergency. “My threshold will be if I can’t make a deal with people who are unreasonable,” Trumps said.
The White House and Democrats remain locked in a fight as federal employees and the country continue to hang in the balance.
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