United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday walked out of a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as the partial government shutdown entered the 19th day.
“Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time,” the president tweeted. “I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!”
Trump’s reference to “30 days” relates to a legislation passed in the House to fund eight departments and reopen the Department of Homeland Security by February 8. Democrats said the extra time would allow federal employees to get paid while lawmakers break the impasse.
The House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Democratic Party, has refused to allocate the $5 billion sought by the Trump administration to build a wall along the Mexico border, resulting in a partial government shutdown that has paralysed the US government for almost three weeks.
Schumer said Trump’s behaviour was “unbecoming of a presidency” and “again, we saw a temper tantrum”, reported CNBC. Pelosi said the 8 lakh unpaid employees were “collateral damage” to Trump. “The president seems to be insensitive to that,” she said, according to BBC. “He thinks maybe they could just ask their father for more money. But they can’t.”
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