Perhaps the biggest battle President Trump has fought with Democrats since taking office has been over immigration.
Trump wants to secure the border, build a wall, and end illegal immigration. Democrats oppose all of this.
And after last week’s tense meeting with Trump over the border wall, Nancy Pelosi just delivered the President an ultimatum that will change everything.
After spending the last two shutdowns attacking Republicans over shutting down the federal government, Nancy Pelosi just hinted that she’s willing to risk a shutdown in order to stop Trump’s border wall.
And she’s willing to keep the federal government closed forever.
The Democratic leader and Speaker-designee told the media at a press conference on Capitol Hill, “Does he [President Trump] want government closed forever? What does he want?”
It’s pretty clear what the President wants. He campaigned on it, got elected to office on it, and has worked for nearly two years to get it done.
He wants to build a wall.
Pelosi said this right after telling the press that shutting down the government would be “a very bad thing to do.”
History shows that shutdown battles usually end poorly for Congress.
In 1994, Congress got the blame for a shutdown after a budget battle with then-President Bill Clinton.
In 2013, Congress again got the blame for a shutdown after a battle over Obamacare with then-President Barack Obama.
At the beginning of this year, President Trump won a shutdown battle after Democrats tried to defend illegal aliens by forcing the federal government to close.
Polls show a majority of Americans want the border to be secure.
Democrats also won the House majority by talking about issues outside of defending illegal immigrants.
These trends and factors suggest Democrats would be overplaying their hand by shutting down the federal government in order to prevent Trump’s border wall from passing.
President Trump called for Democrats to avoid forcing a shutdown over the border wall on his Twitter account.
“The Democrats are absolute hypocrites,” the President said. “They have to put the people ahead of politics. We need to have the wall, we need to have border security.”
However, with Pelosi not set to take over the House of Representatives until January, Republicans still have just under a month to pass a border security bill without needing Democratic support.
President Trump has been joined by many Congressional Republicans in calling for the construction of a border wall, with the House Freedom Caucus supporting passing legislation to construct a wall before Pelosi takes over the House in January.
Absent Congressional support to finally pass legislation addressing the southern border, President Trump has signaled that he’s ready to take matters into his own hands.
If Republicans fail to pass a bill this month, or if Pelosi’s ultimatum to the President holds true and she works to shut down the federal government, President Trump has hinted that he will use the military to secure the border.
This development is nothing new. The President made it clear earlier this year he was prepared to use the military to prevent the migrant caravan from entering the United States.
In a tweet last Tuesday, the President said, “If the Democrats do not give us the votes to secure our Country, the Military will build the remaining sections of the Wall.”
With Pelosi threatening a government shutdown in order to stop the wall from being built, the stage is set for a showdown over the border, the federal government, and one of President Trump’s most prominent campaign pledges.
We will keep you up to date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
