President Trump wants to address the nation about the government shutdown on Tuesday night, and later in the week plans to travel to the southern border as part of his effort to persuade Americans of the need for a border wall — the sticking point in negotiations with Democrats who are eager to reopen shuttered agencies.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about a request to television networks to carve out time for an Oval Office address. A person familiar with the request said the White House had asked to interrupt prime time programming on Tuesday.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, announced Mr. Trump’s plans to travel to the border on Thursday, which would be the 20th day of the partial government shutdown if an agreement between Congress and the White House is not reached in the meantime.
President @realDonaldTrump will travel to the Southern border on Thursday to meet with those on the frontlines of the national security and humanitarian crisis. More details will be announced soon.
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) January 7, 2019
So far, there has been little progress in the negotiations. The shutdown is the second longest in the nation’s history and affects about 800,000 federal workers, many of whom will not get paid for the first time this week.
Mr. Trump has said he would not sign legislation to fund shuttered agencies — and reopen the government — unless it includes funding for a border wall between the United States and Mexico. Nancy Pelosi, the new speaker of the House, which came under Democratic control last week, has asserted that the president is “not going to get a wall.”
Source: The New York Times
