President Donald Trump demanded Friday that Democrats agree to earmark billions of taxpayer dollars for his long-promised border wall with Mexico _ even though Democrats have repeatedly affirmed they won't entertain such a request.
"Republicans and Democrats MUST come together, finally, with a major Border Security package, which will include funding for the Wall," Trump tweeted from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. "After 40 years of talk, it is finally time for action. Fix the Border, for once and for all, NOW!"
The president, who's spending the holiday weekend at his private Palm Beach resort, has in recent weeks toyed with the idea of shutting down the government if Congress doesn't allocate at least $5 billion for the wall by Dec. 7, when several federal agencies run out of cash.
"Could there be a shutdown? There certainly could, and it will be about border security, in which the wall is a part," Trump told reporters on Thanksgiving.
But House and Senate Democrats have made clear for months they are not prepared to provide any more wall funding than the $1.6 billion they agreed to include in a bipartisan homeland security bill this spring.
House Republicans, meanwhile, see the upcoming funding deadline as their last chance to obtain cash for Trump's wall before they enter the legislative minority in January.
Trump's latest border wall demand comes a day after he said he'd signed an order to seal the U.S. border with Mexico, adding that he's authorized American troops to use lethal force against migrants who attempt to enter the country. It was not clear what Trump was talking about and the White House hasn't released an order.
Prior to the midterm elections, Trump struck a more partisan tone while pushing for wall funding, urging Republican lawmakers to "stop wasting their time" by trying to work with Democrats on immigration and border-related issues.
The president's demand for cash also sharply contrasts his 2016 campaign promise that the Mexican government would pay for his wall.
Since taking office, Trump has pushed for legislation that would instead leave American taxpayers on the hook for the behemoth barrier. Democrats and critics have argued that a wall wouldn't prove particularly effective from a national security standpoint and say Trump's continuous demands for one are born out of racial animus.
