The rift between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over construction of a border wall appeared to widen on Thursday as negotiators work to strike a deal ahead of a mid-month deadline.
It was a return to the barbed back-and-forth that colored the month-long standoff that ended last week when Trump agreed to reopen the government without securing the border money wall.
He gave lawmakers three weeks to reach an agreement on a long-term government funding plan that he insists must include border wall funding.
Pelosi adopted a firm stance against that demand Thursday.
« There’s not going to be any wall money in the legislation, » she said during a weekly news conference.
She added that other aspects of border security involving infrastructure and technology are part of the negotiations.
In an appearance in the Oval Office, Trump offered a deeply pessimistic view of the prospects of an agreement he could approve.
« I’m not waiting for this committee and I’ve told a lot of people I don’t expect much coming out of the committee because I keep hearing words that ‘We’ll give you what you want but we won’t give you a wall.’ And the problem is, if they don’t give us a wall, it doesn’t work, » Trump said. He was appearing with Cabinet members and executives to sign an executive order meant to spur manufacturing.
In a set of morning tweets, Trump insisted his long-promised border wall would come to fruition one way or another, blaming « political games » for delaying the inevitable.
« Lets just call them WALLS from now on and stop playing political games! A WALL is a WALL! » he tweeted.
Later, he wrote: « The Wall is getting done one way or the other! »
The messages came as Republican and Democratic negotiators begin talks on Capitol Hill over a government funding measure that Trump insists must include border wall funding.
