Trump calls for shutdown if Congress doesn't pass border-security measures

President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for a government shutdown if Congress does not pass what he considers adequate border-security measures.

“If we don’t get rid of these loopholes where killers are allowed to come into our country and continue to kill ... if we don’t change it, let’s have a shutdown,” Trump said at a White House roundtable focused on the gang MS-13. “We’ll do a shutdown, and it’s worth it for our country. I’d love to see a shutdown if we don’t get this stuff taken care of.”


Trump’s statement followed a parade of remarks from state, local and federal law enforcement officials about violence propagated by MS-13, which was founded in Los Angeles by refugees from El Salvador. His demand for border-security measures did not match the current efforts to avoid a government shutdown on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers still hope to reach an immigration deal, but debate around keeping the government open has focused on defense spending this time around, not the border.

"We have to strengthen our borders, not by a little bit but by a lot," Trump said. "We are so far behind the time. And by the way, the world is laughing at us because they can’t believe these policies. We’re going to get it stopped. And if we have to shut it down because the Democrats don’t want safety — and unrelated but still related, they don’t want to take care of our military — then shut it down. We’ll go with another shutdown.”

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

A shutdown over immigration and border security policy would be the second this year after Congress failed to reach an agreement last month on a short-term government funding measure, prompting a three-day shutdown that occurred mostly over a weekend.

The impetus for that shutdown was Democrats' insistence that Congress codify into law protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. But Democratic leadership in the Senate cut a deal to fund the government in exchange for a pledge from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that the chamber would take up the issue in the coming weeks.

The president’s insistence on a shutdown followed remarks from House Homeland Security Committee chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas), who lamented congressional inaction on the issue.

Despite Trump's comments, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at her Tuesday press briefing that "we are not advocating for a shutdown" and that Trump was merely "encouraging people to do their jobs." She would not commit Trump to signing any deal that might come out of Congress to keep the government funded past Thursday but said the White House does not expect immigration reform specifics.

“Look, the only people that have caused a shutdown are the Democrats who have repeatedly held the government hostage over their own politics," Sanders said. "The president isn’t looking for this, but if the Democratic Party is going to continue to threaten a shutdown because they won’t include responsible immigration reforms, including fixing MS-13 loopholes and other issues, then the president welcomes that fight. It’s a fight we won last time, and it’s one we’re very confident that we would win again.”

Trump put the status of the so-called Dreamers on the table last fall when he rescinded an Obama-era program that shielded them from deportation. Trump has expressed a desire to protect Dreamers from deportation, but only if such protections are accompanied by immigration reforms and border security improvements, including funding for his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

White House chief of staff John Kelly said Tuesday that the president is unlikely to extend those protections by pushing back a deadline after which Dreamers could face deportation.

Also in attendance at the meeting were Reps. Peter King (R-N.Y.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), as well as Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

Comstock, considered among the most vulnerable Republicans in this year’s upcoming midterm elections, stressed bipartisanship on the issue and told the president that “we don’t need a government shutdown on this."

"We really do not," she said. "I think both sides have learned that a government shutdown was bad. It wasn’t good for them, and we do have bipartisan support on these things.” Trump replied to her that “we are not getting support from the Democrats. I mean, you can say what you want. We are not getting support from the Democrats.”

King, speaking to reporters after the meeting, said a shutdown would be a "last alternative" and that "I don't see that at all in the offing." The New York Republican added that he thought the president "was talking about the future."

Asked about the president's shutdown threat, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Trump's remark "speaks for itself. We had one Trump shutdown. No one wants another one, maybe except him."

Burgess Everett and Andrew Restuccia contributed to this report.

