Trump walks out of meeting on border wall
After top Democratic leaders House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer refused to allocate a whopping USD 5.7 billion funding for Trump’s controversial US-Mexico border wall plan, the US president staged a walk out from the meeting.
Trump was furious that Pelosi said no when he asked the Democratic leaders on Wednesday would they support the move to fund the border wall within the next 30 days if he ends the partial government shutdown that has crippled many offices.
The US president took to Twitter and said, "Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time. I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works (sic)!"
The sharp differences between the Trump administration and the opposition Democrats over border security has resulted in a partial government shutdown, which entered its 19th day on Wednesday, making it the second-longest in history after the 21-day shutdown in 1995-96.
The Democrats refused to allocate the money, arguing that a wall would be costly and ineffective. Mexico has rejected Trump's demand to pay for the border wall.
Meanwhile, a new phase of political uncertainty in the US opened up with the president’s walkout from the meeting at the White House.
The Democrats are willing to fund a border wall under no circumstances, Pelosi and Schumer asserted while talking to reporters after Trump’s walkout.
Moreover, the two leaders blamed the president for the partial government shutdown that has badly hit the functioning of the federal government and indicated their party is not going to change its stand over the issue.
The Democratic party enjoys a majority in the House of Representatives.
Vice President Mike Pence, who made a rare media appearance at the White House stake out location along with the other Congressional Republican leaders, said their doors are still open for the Democratic party leaders to come up with their own proposal.
Trump, however, made it clear there will be no moving forward without funding approval for a wall.
Schumer alleged that Trump "sort of slammed the table" as the talks fell apart.
"He couldn't get his way and he just walked out of the meeting," he said, adding, "We saw a temper tantrum because he couldn't get his way."
"When she (Pelosi) said no, the president said goodbye," said Mike Pence.
