Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby Richard Craig ShelbySenate GOP eyes early exit Dems discussing government funding bill into February GOP short of votes on Trump's controversial Fed pick MORE (R-Ala.) on Tuesday said President Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE’s State of the Union address did little to alter the dynamics of negotiations over his proposed border wall, which are stuck at an impasse.

Shelby, a key negotiator, said he hopes for a breakthrough in the talks beginning as soon as Wednesday but conceded that Trump’s address to the nation did not cover any new ground.

“I hadn’t heard anything new tonight. He reiterated his position, which he’s continued to do,” Shelby said.

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Asked whether the speech might make it easier to reach a compromise, Shelby said, “I don’t think it matters. I think it’s a reiteration of his basic position.”

Trump noted that he has sent to Congress what he called “a common sense proposal to end the crisis on our southern border.”

“I’ll get it built,” he vowed, calling his proposal “a smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier — not just a simple concrete wall.”

“It will be deployed in the areas identified by border agents as having the greatest need, and as these agents will tell you, where walls go up, illegal crossings go way down,” he said.

Shelby said experts are scheduled to testify Wednesday before a special Senate-House conference negotiating a deal on border security and voiced hope that it could have more impact.

“Tomorrow we might create a dynamic to move us together,” he said. “We’re going to hear from the professionals and see what they want or what they need."

“It could move us off the dime,” he added, describing the tone of the conferees as “good.”

Shelby said he had a conversation with House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey Nita Sue LoweyTop House Democrats call for watchdog probe into Pompeo's Jerusalem speech With Biden, advocates sense momentum for lifting abortion funding ban Progressives look to flex their muscle in next Congress after primary wins MORE (N.Y.), the lead Democratic negotiator, at around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Sen. Christopher Coons Christopher (Chris) Andrew CoonsMurkowski: Supreme Court nominee should not be taken up before election Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight Sunday shows - Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death dominates MORE (Del.), a Democratic centrist who participated in preliminary bipartisan talks on border security during the 35-day government shutdown, also said he didn’t think Trump’s speech would have much impact.

“While he tried to strike a unifying tone in a number of moments or passages, when he focused on immigration and the border it was with such a dark and divisive tone. He chose to cite specific examples in a way that I think only moves or inspires folks who were solidly on board with his view,” Coons said.

The president argued that “tens of thousands of innocent Americas are killed by lethal drugs that cross our border” and claimed that MS-13, a “savage gang” operating in 20 states, has also come across the southern border.