Reporters grilled White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday over why President Donald Trump had threatened a government shutdown over border security funding.

At a press briefing, ABC News chief White House Correspondent John Karl noted that Trump had “promised over and over” that Mexico would pay for a border wall. “So why is he now threatening a government shutdown if Congress won’t pay for it?”

ADVERTISEMENT

“He campaigned on the wall. He won on talking about building a wall. And he’s going to make sure that that gets done and he’ll continue to fight for that funding and ensure that it takes place,” Sanders replied.

Later in the press briefing, Urban Radio Networks reporter April Ryan asked how a government shutdown over the border would affect the economy. “If there is a government shutdown, people could be laid off for a moment or some people could lose their jobs,” she noted.

“I’m not going to get into the weeds on that,” Sanders deflected. “But I know that the president is probably one of the strongest presidents we’ve had on economic issues. there’s a reason that over 1 million jobs have been created since he took office.”

Watch video below: