CNN reports:
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he supports a government shutdown if Democrats won’t agree to tighten immigration laws, undercutting ongoing bipartisan negotiations on Capitol Hill.
The comment, which came during a White House meeting on the violent MS-13 gang, was not well received in the room. Rep. Barbara Comstock, a Virginia Republican who represents a district with thousands of federal workers, confronted Trump about the remark and urged him to avoid another government shutdown.
“If we don’t change it, let’s have a shutdown,” Trump said of the nation’s immigration laws. “We’ll do a shutdown and it’s worth it for our country. I’d love to see a shutdown if we don’t get this stuff taken care of.”
And again, @potus tells the pool he would shut down gov’t (reporters asked him again if that was his intention):
“If we don’t straighten out our border, we don’t have a country. Without borders we don’t have a country. So would I shut it down over this issue? Yes.”
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) February 6, 2018
“We are not advocating for a shutdown,” Sarah Sanders at 3:50pm.
“If we don’t change it. Let’s have a shutdown. We’ll do a shutdown, and it’s worth it for our country. I’d love to see a shutdown if we don’t get this stuff taken care of,” Trump at 2:33pm.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 6, 2018
During a meeting on the MS-13 gang, Trump said he supports a government shutdown if Democrats won’t agree to tighten immigration laws: “If we don’t change it, let’s have a shutdown. … I’d love to see a shutdown if we don’t get this stuff taken care of.” https://t.co/IghwpT0aPr pic.twitter.com/rlUMfOu7WD
— CNN (@CNN) February 6, 2018