WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump will travel Thursday to the U.S.-Mexico border amid an ongoing government shutdown over the proposed barrier he says should be built there to combat illegal crossings.
He is making the trip, on what will likely be Day 20 of a partial government shutdown "to meet with those on the frontlines of the national security and humanitarian crisis," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Monday.
Trump administration officials requested $5.7 billion Sunday for the proposed border barrier, with the president telling reporters he now wants a steel structure rather than the concrete one he pitched as a presidential candidate.
Vice President Mike Pence held talks with senior congressional aides about the administration's border security demands, though sources on both sides say little progress was made.
The shutdown plodded into its 17th day on Monday.
