President Trump on Tuesday told reporters that he would happily shut down the government over his desired border wall because he believes it is an issue that he will “win... every single time.” The remarks came just hours after an explosive meeting with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, in which the president first threatened a shutdown.
“Chuck's problem is that, you know, when we last closed down, that was his idea. Honestly, he got killed. He doesn’t want to own it. I said rather than us debating who is owning it, I’ll take it,” Trump told reporters. “If we close down the country, I’ll take it because we’re closing it down for border security and I think I win that every single time.”
While Trump said he ultimately does not want the shutdown to become an “issue,” he said he liked the idea in that it could force Democrats’ hands to support his desired border proposals. “We need protection. We need border security. We need protection from drugs that are coming into our county,” he said, eventually echoing far-right claims that migrants at the southern border are bringing “tremendous medical” problems into the United States.