President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE on Thursday urged others to "stop playing political games" and refer to his proposed barrier along the southern border as "walls."

"Lets just call them WALLS from now on and stop playing political games! A WALL is a WALL!" Trump wrote in a tweet.

Lets just call them WALLS from now on and stop playing political games! A WALL is a WALL! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2019

ADVERTISEMENT

It was unclear to whom the tweet was directed, but it comes after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthyTrump asked Chamber of Commerce to reconsider Democratic endorsements: report The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by The Air Line Pilots Association - White House moves closer to Pelosi on virus relief bill Trump's sharp words put CDC director on hot seat MORE (R-Calif.) said this week that a compromise between lawmakers over Trump's demand for a barrier along the southern border doesn't need to include the word "wall."

“It could be barrier. It doesn’t have to be a wall,” McCarthy told reporters, according to PBS.

Trump in recent weeks has stepped up his demand for Congress to approve funding to construct a wall along the southern border, which was a central theme of his campaign.

That demand was at the center of the recent record-long government shutdown, which began Dec. 22 after Trump refused to sign a bill to fund the government that didn't include wall funding. The president last week signed a bill to reopen the government for three weeks without wall funding, but he has since continued to pressure lawmakers to approve funding for a wall.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers tasked with reaching an agreement for border security met for the first time on Wednesday. Trump on Wednesday said lawmakers would be "wasting their time" if they weren't discussing or contemplating a wall.

The president said in other tweets on Thursday that "large sections" of the wall were already being built and that the wall was necessary to counter increased crime in Mexico.

"Large sections of WALL have already been built with much more either under construction or ready to go. Renovation of existing WALLS is also a very big part of the plan to finally, after many decades, properly Secure Our Border. The Wall is getting done one way or the other!" he tweeted.

"Very sadly, Murder cases in Mexico in 2018 rose 33% from 2017, to 33,341. This is a big contributor to the Humanitarian Crises taking place on our Southern Border and then spreading throughout our Country. Worse even than Afghanistan. Much caused by DRUGS. Wall is being built!" Trump added in another tweet.

Large sections of WALL have already been built with much more either under construction or ready to go. Renovation of existing WALLS is also a very big part of the plan to finally, after many decades, properly Secure Our Border. The Wall is getting done one way or the other! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2019