President Donald Trump plans to travel to the southern border on Thursday to meet with people who the White House describes as being on "the frontlines of the national security and humanitarian crisis."
Press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted the news on Monday.
"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," she wrote.
The government is in the 17th day of a partial shutdown over an impasse on border security and illegal immigration in Washington.
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.
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) January 7, 2019
Trump is in a standoff with congressional Democrats over the long-promised southern border wall he wants to build. Trump asked Congress for $5.7 billion on Sunday for a "steel barrier" rather than a concrete wall, which he says is "stronger" and "less obtrusive."
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1082032550112047104
ABC News reporter Tara Palmieri tweeted that a White House official told her it was likely the trip would be canceled.
Trump was supposed to go last week but canceled. A WH official warns that there's a high likelihood it will be canceled again. https://t.co/EOdp8Nwsxh
— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) January 7, 2019
New Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) has stated House Democrats will give Trump "nothing for the wall" in a bill to fund to the government.
Trump told Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) he would be willing to keep the government shut down for "years" over the wall. Sanders said on "Fox News Sunday" that Trump wasn't kidding.
"Absolutely, the president means what he says when he says that," she said. " [Democrats] agree that we need border security. They just are unwilling to let this president win. And I think at some point they have to decide that they care more about Americans than fighting the president. And so far we haven’t seen a willingness on their side to fully do that."
Trump has called the wall the key to border security, while Pelosi has called such a structure "immoral." The White House has sent out videos of prominent Democrats like Schumer, Hillary Clinton, and President Barack Obama making strong statements in the recent past about securing the border.