President Donald Trump showed his first cards Tuesday about a bipartisan border security deal that falls well short of his $5.7 billion funding demand for a U.S.-Mexico border barrier.
“I can’t say I’m happy,” Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting. “I can’t say I’m thrilled.”
He indicated he plans to meet with senior lawmakers soon to discuss the compromise plan. He would need to sign it by 11:59 p.m. Friday to avoid another partial government shutdown, following one in December and January that lasted for 35 days and his White House acknowledged damaged the economy.
Sources familiar with the agreement said it would provide $1.375 billion for physical barriers at the southern border and would reduce the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention beds for undocumented immigrants apprehended in the country by 17.4 percent. The agreement does not include a cap on detention beds used for interior enforcement that Democrats proposed and led to a breakdown in the negotiations over the weekend. Trump only got $1.375 billion to build 55 miles of barriers along the southwest border; that’s shy of the $1.6 billion for 65 miles that Senate appropriators approved on a bipartisan basis last June. Trump described himself as “extremely unhappy with what the Democrats have given us” even though the House-Senate panel featured members of both parties.
In a remark that could derail the pact, the president said he is “adding things to it.”
“I’m not happy about it. It’s not doing the trick,” Trump said. “Am I happy? The answer is no, I’m not. I’m not happy.”
Still, the president predicted “I don’t think you’re going to see a shutdown,” but already was trying to deflect blame...
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