WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump appeared to back away from threats to shut down parts of the federal government over his demands for money for his border wall, as his press secretary indicated Tuesday that he wanted to keep the government open.
Trump, who has been demanding $5 billion in additional wall funding from Congress, said last week during a meeting with Democratic leaders that he would be “proud” to shut down the government if his demand wasn’t met.
In an interview with Fox News, however, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that a shutdown was not the president’s only option. “We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion,” she said, without specifics.
The comments came just four days before funds for large portions of the federal government are due to run out. “At the end of the day, we don’t want to shut down the government, we want to shut down the border,” Sanders said.
“There are certainly a number of different funding sources that we’ve identified that we can use, that we can couple with money that would be given through congressional appropriations that would help us get to that $5 billion that the president needs in order to protect our border,” she said, without specifying what those were.
On Capitol Hill, Republicans responded to Sanders’ statement with cautious optimism, although some made it clear they weren’t sure whether the White House was in fact shifting its strategy.
“I assume she speaking on behalf of the president so maybe there’s a negotiation going on that’s going to find us a solution,” said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate.
In recent days, Republican leaders have repeatedly indicated they were uncertain about what, if anything, Trump would agree to support.
“I think that the White House is looking, like we are, to figure out how we can get to yes,” said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, after a closed-door meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York in McConnell’s office.
Democrats rejected one proposal from Republicans that called for appropriating $1.6 billion for border security separate from the wall project and another $1 billion that Trump could spend as he sees fit, potentially on construction.
“We cannot accept the offer they made of a billion-dollar slush fund for the president to implement his very wrong immigration policies,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said.
McConnell, speaking to reporters later, expressed confidence that a shutdown would be averted, even as he acknowledged that congressional leaders continued to seek clarity on what compromise the president will accept.
“I think a government shutdown is not a good option,” McConnell said. “I’m discussing with the White House where we go next. Once I get an answer to that, I’ll talk to Sen. Schumer again and see what we can do. I think there’s certainly bipartisan support for avoiding a government shutdown.”
Trump, at a White House event on school safety just after McConnell spoke, didn’t echo the senator’s optimism. “We’ll see what happens,” he said. “It’s too early to say.”
The president dodged a question from a reporter who asked if he still might shut down the government if he didn’t get the wall funding he has demanded. “We need border security,” he said.