In yet another statement from the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Donald Trump reiterated that he would be willing to shut down the government over congressional funding for his border wall.
“I don’t mind having the issue of border security on my side,” he said, adding later: “If we close down the country, I will take it, because we’re closing it down for border security, and I think I win that every single time.”
That followed a similar statement from the President during an Oval Office meeting with Democratic leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in which Trump asserted: “I am proud to shut down the government over border security.”
In his second Oval Office appearance Tuesday, during a signing ceremony for the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act, Trump said falsely of Democrats: “Most of them want open borders.”
Trump also inflated the threat of “communicable diseases” from migrants and asylum seekers at the border, by now a common scare tactic.
“One of the problems that people don’t talk about, you have a tremendous medical problem coming into our country, communicable disease, tremendous problems,” Trump said.
Watch below:
Trump: “I don’t mind having the issue of border security on my side.” pic.twitter.com/eJxuSSPCAt
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 11, 2018
“If we close down the country, I will take it, because we’re closing it down for border security, and I think I win that every single time.” pic.twitter.com/dllW4NrY2C
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 11, 2018
