Donald Trump has walked out of a White House meeting with Congressional leadership over the government shutdown after Democrats indicated they would offer no funding for his promised wall on the US-Mexico border.
“He asked [House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, 'Will you agree to my wall?' She said no. And he just got up and said, 'Then we have nothing to discuss,' and he just walked out. Again, we saw a temper tantrum because he couldn't get his way,” Chuck Schumer, the leading Democrat in the Senate said.
Mr Trump tweeted the meeting was "total waste of time" and said he offered to open up the government for 30 days if Democrats supported the building of the wall.
Republican senators defy Trump by backing bill to end government without funding for border wall
Cracks in GOP resolve begin to show as federal shutdown approaches fourth week
Most Americans blame Trump for government shutdown, poll finds
Fifty-one per cent hold president responsible, compared to 32 per cent who blame Democrats"America proudly welcomes millions of lawful immigrants who enrich our society and contribute to our nation. But, all Americans are hurt by uncontrolled illegal migration."
You can read our coverage of the speech here:
Democrats accuse Trump of 'misinformation and malice' as president declares 'humanitarian and security crisis' on border
Mr Trump steers clear of declaring national emergency over border but two sides are no closer to deal to end shutdown
Trump 'consults Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs over government shutdown'
Right-wing news journalists reportedly tell president to persist with border wall demand
Trump says workers not getting paid because of government shutdown will have to 'make adjustments'
President has threatened to declare national emergency to get wall funding
Trump considers using emergency powers and threatens to keep shutdown going for 'months or even years'
House Democrats have passed a plan to re-open the US government without funding President Donald Trump’s border wall — but a meeting between congressional leaders and the president in the White House has shown little promise for a quick fix to the ongoing funding problems.Mexican President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador has said that he will not get involved in discussion of the wall that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to build at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying the subject is an internal US political matter.
Mr Lopez Obrador, who took office in December, has tried to keep away from issues in Washington during the early part of his term
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats, who took control of the chamber last week, plan to advance a bill to immediately re-open the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and several other agencies that have been in partial shutdown mode.
Democrats are eager to force Republicans to choose between funding the Treasury's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - at a time when it should be gearing up to issue tax refunds to millions of Americans - and voting to keep it partially shuttered.
In a countermove, the Trump administration said on Tuesday that even without a new shot of funding, the IRS would somehow make sure those refunds get sent.
“If this is a crisis,” Mr Hurd - who represents a district on the border - said, “the people dealing with this crisis should get paid.”
Ms Sanders was asked why the President did not declare a national emergency despite describing a "crisis" at the border. She said it's still a possibility
"Something that’s still on the table," she said. "The best solution is to work with Congress to get this done because you can close a lot of the loop holes, fund border security fully and that’s what we’re hopeful to do.”
