President Trump Just Used a White House Press Briefing to Double Down on Funding for the Wall

The government shutdown is in its 13th day.

Evan Vucci/AP

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President Donald Trump made his first presidential appearance at the White House briefing room podium on Thursday afternoon to continue to insist on border wall funding amid a partial government that has lasted 13 days so far.

The president was joined by officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol—agencies where many employees are currently working without pay due to lack of federal funding—to champion his cause.

Here’s how Art Del Cueto, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, put it:

“We are all affected by this shutdown; we have skin in the game. However, it comes down to border security, and we are extremely grateful to President Trump and we fully support what he is doing,” he said. “It has nothing to do with political parties. You all got to ask yourself this question: ‘If I come to your home, do you want me to knock on the front door or do you want me to climb through that window?'”

The shutdown persists because of an impasse between the president and Democrats in Congress over border security funding: Trump has insisted on $5.6 billion in funding, while Democrats won’t go above $1.3 billion. Congressional leaders have been formally invited to the White House on Friday for another round of funding discussions.

“We need protection in our country, we’re going to make it good—the people of our country want it,” said Trump. Despite a recent poll that says more Americans blame the president for the shutdown than blame congressional Democrats, the president showered praise on himself: “I have never had so much support as I have had in the last week over my stance for border security, border control, and for frankly, the wall or the barrier.”

Trump refused to take questions at the end of the press briefing.

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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