U.S. President Donald Trump said another government shutdown is “certainly an option” as he expressed skepticism that Congress would reach a deal to fund the border wall he has requested, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Trump told the Journal in an interview that he thinks there’s a less than 50 percent chance such a deal could be reached before the next government funding lapse on Feb. 15 — which is less than three weeks away.
The president also said he doubted he would accept less than $5.7 billion for the border wall, nor would he agree to grant citizenship for “Dreamers” — immigrants illegally brought to the U.S. as children who would have benefited from never-passed proposals in Congress called the DREAM Act — in exchange for wall funding, according to the Journal report.
Trump on Friday signed a bill to temporarily end the 35-day partial government shutdown that dragged on as he argued with Democrats over his proposed border wall. The shutdown, which was the longest in U.S. history, caused about 800,000 federal workers to miss paychecks with some having to scramble to cover meals and bills.
Trump left the political fight battered: Several polls found that Americans primarily blamed their president for the shutdown. Polls also indicated that Trump may be losing favor with this core constituents.
—CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.
