Trump doubts acceptable wall deal will be reached
He says chances are low that Congress can avoid another closure of US government in time
WASHINGTON US President Donald Trump expressed scepticism on Sunday that US lawmakers seeking to avoid another government shutdown could reach a deal on border security that he would accept, as he renewed his vow to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr Trump said chances were low that Congress could craft an agreement and avoid another closure of part of the US government in three weeks, when funding will expire.
"I personally think it's less than 50-50, but you have a lot of good people on that board," Mr Trump said, referring to the committee of lawmakers appointed to work out a compromise on border security funding.
Another shutdown is "certainly an option". Mr Trump has also said he might declare a national emergency to build his border wall. Democrats would likely challenge that in court.
"Does anybody really think I won't build the wall? Done more in first two years than any president," Mr Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday evening.
Democratic resistance to Republican Trump's demand for US$5.7 billion (S$7.7 billion) for a border wall resulted in a 35-day shutdown of a quarter of the US government, a closure that ended on Friday last week.
STRUGGLING
The stand-off damaged the US economy, left federal workers struggling to make ends meet and tested Americans' patience with various disruptions.
After opinion polls showed Americans increasingly blamed Mr Trump for the situation, he signed a measure to fund the government for three weeks as congressional negotiators try to work out a Bill to fund the agencies through Sept 30.
But he also threatened to resume the shutdown on Feb 15 if he does not get what he wants.
Mr Trump sounded doubtful about a possible deal involving both wall money and an overhaul of US immigration laws.
"I doubt it," he said, when asked if he would agree to citizenship for immigrants known as Dreamers, those brought to the US illegally as children, in exchange for wall funding.
Earlier on Sunday, some lawmakers criticised using the closure of federal agencies as a tool in policy disputes.
Senior legislators from both parties said the latest shutdown was as ineffective as previous ones but more disruptive as it was the longest in US history.
"Shutdowns are not good leverage in any negotiation," Republican Senator Marco Rubio said on NBC.
Mr Hakeem Jeffries, chairman of the Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives, also said on NBC that shutdowns were "not legitimate negotiating tactics" in public policy disagreements.
About 800,000 federal workers were furloughed or worked without pay during the shutdown.
"We hope that by the end of this week, all the back pay will be made up," acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said on CBS. Federal workers are owed about US$6 billion in back pay, according to a study released last week.- REUTERS
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