WASHINGTON _ President Trump suggested a government shutdown was "coming" in a tweet early Friday as lawmakers scrambled to patch together a last-minute spending deal by midnight Eastern time, a task complicated by the president's remarks.
A White House official said Trump would not leave for his private club Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., until a bill passes, though his public schedule released Thursday night had him leaving Friday afternoon despite the shutdown threat. At Mar-a-Lago, he planned to celebrate the anniversary of his inauguration on Saturday with a gala Republican fundraiser.
Congress appears deadlocked over a proposed four-week stopgap funding bill to keep government offices open past Friday's deadline.
Trump falsely accused Democrats of wanting "illegal immigration and weak borders" as a condition for keeping the government operating. Republicans need some Democrats' votes in the Senate but most Democrats say they will reject any spending bill that does not include a deal protecting so-called Dreamers brought to the country illegally as children from deportation.
Trump wrote on Twitter (misspelling "passed"): "Government Funding Bill past last night in the House of Representatives. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate _ but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!"
