US President Donald Trump says he would "totally be willing" to shut down the federal government unless congress authorises $US5 billion to fund his long-promised wall along the border with Mexico, according to Politico.
Trump also told the news outlet, in an interview published on Wednesday, that the suggested $US5 billion would pay for the physical barrier alone, and that additional funding would be needed for other border security measures.
The president has not followed through on previous threats to shut down the US government over funding for the border wall, a signature promise of his 2016 election campaign.
But with his fellow Republicans set to lose control of the House of Representatives in January after the recent midterm elections, it is not clear if this time Trump will back down.
Illegal immigration was a central theme of Trump's presidential bid, and he repeatedly invoked the issue ahead of the November 6 midterm elections as a caravan of migrants from Central America made their way toward the United States and deployed some 5800 US troops to the border.
He has also threatened to completely shut down the border, a warning Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray rejected on Wednesday.
US agents launched gas canisters at migrants attempting to breach the border fence with Mexico. Source: AAP
US lawmakers must act to pass a spending bill by December 7 to fund some government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security which oversees borders and immigration.
Republicans will maintain their control of the Senate next year but still need some Democratic support to pass spending legislation.
The head of the Senate Homeland Security committee chairman, Republican Ron Johnson, said Trump "deserved to have better barriers funded" but noted that most government funds had already been appropriated and that most security spending would continue under emergency provisions.
"It's very difficult to shut down the government," Johnson told Fox News.
His Republican colleague, Orrin Hatch, told NBC News he had "mixed emotions" but that both sides should be able to find a solution.
US House Speaker Paul Ryan said the House version of spending legislation does contain Trump's requested $US5 billion but acknowledged that Democrats, who have refused to support Trump's border wall but support other border security measures, have a say.
Trump told Politico the political battle over the border was a "total winner" for his party even as he said he was not taking action "just for political gain".
In a separate interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, Trump said that if congress does not fund the wall he might try to get it done another way and referred to the deployed troops' work installing "barbed wire and fencing and various other things".
Trump also told Politico he saw little need to work with congress over immigration reforms to address the roughly 700,000 so-called Dreamers, young adults who were brought to the US illegally as children, and would instead see how court challenges play out.
Share
