Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Friday’s “Fox & Friends” said that despite the Democrats’ refusal to negotiate a deal for border wall funding, President Donald Trump is “not willing to give up on the southern barrier.”

Mulvaney explained that Democrats have “shut down the discussions” and did not counter the last offer that was made for a deal.

“We’re still building the barrier,” Mulvaney stated. “That’s why the government is closed — because the president is not willing to give up on the southern barrier. … We are not giving up on that. It’s why the government is closed. But it makes sense to sit down across the table when you’re trying to negotiate with another party and see if there’s some place in the middle between our 5 [billion dollars] and their 1.3.”

Mulvaney went on to say he does not think Democrats will negotiate again until “after the new Congress is sworn in.”

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