via thehill:
President Trump on Friday threatened to “close the Southern Border entirely” if Democrats do not agree to provide money to “finish” building a wall on the Mexican border.
Trump made the threat in a tweet on the seventh day of a partial government shutdown that entered its seventh day on Friday with no end in sight.
The shutdown began on Saturday after Democrats rejected demands from Trump that $5 billion be included for the wall in a measure to keep the government open.
“We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with,” the president tweeted.
He also criticized past presidents and Congresses over the nation’s current immigration laws.
“Hard to believe there was a Congress & President who would approve!”
We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with. Hard to believe there was a Congress & President who would approve!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2018
Trump and Democrats in Congress have been battling over who is to blame for the government shutdown, with the White House stepping up its efforts to shift blame to Democrats.
Democrats are confident that Trump will get the blame from voters because of an Oval Office meeting earlier this month in which Trump said he would embrace a government shutdown that was triggered over the wall.
He also said he would not blame Democrats for a shutdown that started over wall funding, though he has since shifted from that stance.
The shutdown has left 800,000 federal employees furloughed or forced to work without pay through the holidays.