Trump Goes Back To Government Shutdown Threats Over Wall Funding

Donald Trump

After indicating he would go along with a continuing resolution to keep the government open, Donald Trump reversed course today and said he would not sign the bill unless it included money for his long-promised wall.

ABC News reports:

House Speaker Paul Ryan emerged from a last-minute White House meeting Thursday between President Donald Trump and House Republicans to say that the president told them he will refuse to sign a stopgap funding bill as it's currently written -- a measure that would avert a shutdown before a Friday midnight deadline.

Ryan told reporters that he and other GOP leaders were going back to try to add more border security funding to the legislation.

"The president informed us that he will not sign the bill that came over from the Senate last evening because of his legitimate concerns for border security, so what we're gonna do is go back to the House and work with our members," Ryan, R-Wis., said. "We want to keep the government open but we also want to see an agreement that protects the border."

At the signing of a federal farm bill, Trump addressed his decision:

“I have made my position very clear. Any measure that funds the government must include border security, has to. Not for political purposes, but for our country, for the safety of our community,” President Donald Trump says amid the threat of a partial government shutdown pic.twitter.com/tkD85CaD4x

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 20, 2018

Earlier this week, after the White House indicated Trump would not shut down the government over funding for his wall, The Washington Examiner reported that conservative pundit Ann Coulter was heavily critical of the president saying she would not vote for him in 2020.

“No. Nor will, I think, most of his supporters. Why would you? To make sure, I don’t know, Ivanka and Jared can make money? That seems to be the main point of the presidency at this point.

“They’re about to have a country where no Republican will ever be elected president again. Trump will just have been a joke presidency who scammed the American people, amused the populists for a while, but he’ll have no legacy whatsoever.”

Recap: Basically, @POTUS plans to halt the payroll on 420,000 federal workers because Ann Coulter called him gutless.

That right, @PressSec?

— 🏝Kim (@kim) December 20, 2018

The stock market immediately reacted on today's news:

BREAKING: Dow slides more than 600 points amid government funding showdown https://t.co/r413JVNdGm pic.twitter.com/Gbd0cmk0JP

— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) December 20, 2018