WASHINGTON �� President Donald Trump Sunday again floated the idea shutting down the government if he doesn't get his way on immigration measures, including funding for a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump said on Twitter that he "would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!" Trump over the past year has extolled the benefits of a "good" government shutdown to achieve as much as $25 billion in border-wall funding.
House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell met with Trump at the White House last week to discuss the ongoing appropriation process and how to avoid a politically damaging government shutdown Oct. 1, a month before elections that will determine control of Congress.
McConnell said Friday in a radio interview that a shutdown is "not going to happen," and that action on funding for a border wall would "probably" wait until after the midterm elections.
Asked about Trump's renewed shutdown threat on Sunday, Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, also said he doesn't think it will happen.
"I don't think we're going to shut down the government," Stivers said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "I think we're going to make sure we keep the government open, but we're going to get better policies on immigration."
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(Steven T. Dennis contributed to this report.)
