President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would "love" to see a government shutdown if lawmakers cannot strike an immigration deal.

His comment came even as Senate leaders cited progress on spending talks.

"If we don't get rid of these loopholes ... if we don't change it, let's have a shutdown. We'll do a shutdown," Trump said at a meeting with law enforcement officials where he discussed possible changes to immigration laws.

"I'd love to see a shutdown if we don't get this stuff taken care of," he added.

Trump called for a government shutdown over immigration around the same time as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sounded an optimistic tone about reaching a spending deal. McConnell told reporters he was "optimistic that very soon we'll be able to reach an agreement."