President Trump: ‘We’re Going To Stay Out For A Long Time, If We Have To’
Patrick Howley
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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he expects a long government shutdown.
“We’re going to stay out for a long time, if we have to. We’ll be out for a long time,” President Trump said on a conference call with some of his supporters.
Trump signed the back pay bill Wednesday, which lessens the pressure on him while also shifting blame for the shutdown to Democrats: Now that government workers know that Trump will pay them when the shutdown is over, the only issue to be worked out is why Nancy Pelosi refuses to fund the border wall to the tune of $5.7 billion.
“People are very impressed with how well government is working with the circumstances that we’re under,” the president stated on the call.
Democrats are increasingly interested in making a deal with the president, even though Nancy Pelosi is holding out. Will the Democrat from California be able to keep her caucus together?
President Donald Trump met with a “Problem Solvers Caucus” from both parties at the White House Wednesday in a Situation Room meeting in which Nancy Pelosi was not present.
The Democrat problem solvers left the door open to “common ground” but still requested that the government re-open before that common ground can be discovered.
Here are what the Democrat problem solvers said about the meeting. The Democrat problem solvers include “Josh Gottheimer, Thomas Suozzi, Vincente Gonzalez, Anthony Brindisi, Dean Phillips, Max Rose, and Abigail Spanberger,” but no Pelosi.
“Over the last weeks, we have been listening to our constituents and speaking with our fellow Members of Congress — in both parties and in both chambers. There is strong agreement across the aisle and around the country: We must reopen the government. Our security, safety, and economy have been compromised, and millions of families are suffering,” the Democrat problem solvers stated.
“There is also strong agreement that if we reopen the government, the possibility exists to work together and find common ground to tackle some of our country’s toughest problems and fix them. But that conversation can only begin in earnest once the government is reopened. We accepted the White House’s invitation to meet today to convey that message,” the Democrat problem solvers said.
Meanwhile, Democrats are looking for ways to play ball with the President.
Democrat congressman Hakeem Jeffries said on the House floor that Democrats “are prepared to have a conversation about infrastructure on the border” and “a conversation about our broken immigration system.”
Jeffries is the latest Democrat to suggest open-mindedness on compromise so long as Democrats can use a different term than “Wall.”
Jeffries said that Democrats are not prepared to have these conversations during President Trump’s supposedly vindictive government shutdown, but they might have no choice.
California Democrat Katie Hill went on Fox News to talk about Democrat openness to “physical barriers,” and Rep. Cheri Bustos expressed openness to a “partial Wall.”
President Trump can build the Wall through the national emergency option, especially considering the fact that the United States has 31 active emergencies declared by Trump and previous presidents, including 11 active emergencies declared by Barack Obama. (READ: How President Trump Can Get Around The Ninth Circuit To Build The Wall).
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