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Under growing pressure from his own party, Donald Trump appeared to want to agree to a deal Tuesday that would avoid a second government shutdown but would only provide a fraction of the money he was demanding for the construction of his Mexican border wall. .
Trump said he would need more time to study the plan, but he also said that he was not expecting another closure this weekend when funds intended for parts of the government would be exhausted. He firmly stated that he planned to collect additional dollars for the wall by raiding other federal coffers to keep the promise of signing his presidential campaign.
"I can not say that I am happy. I can not say I'm happy, "said Trump about the proposed deal," but the wall is building, no matter, it does not matter because we're doing something other than what we are talking about here. "
Accepting the agreement, drawn up by congressional negotiators from both sides, would be a disappointment for a president who reiterated that he needed $ 5.7 billion for the creation of a barrier on both sides. along the US-Mexico border, claiming that this project was paramount to national security. Trump refused a similar deal in December, forcing the 35-day partial closure that left hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay and without respite for the Republicans. There is little appetite in Washington for a rehearsal.
Legislators tentatively agreed Monday night to an agreement providing for nearly $ 1.4 billion for border protection and government funding for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
The agreement would allow the construction of new fences over a distance of 88 kilometers – built using existing structures such as metal slats – but much less than the 345 km requested by the White House in December. The fence would be built in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.
All details should not be released until Wednesday, as legislators have worked to translate their verbal agreement into law. But Republican leaders urged Trump to sign.
"I hope he's signing the bill," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has teamed up with other GOP leaders to sell him as a necessary compromise representing a major concession of the Democrats.
Credit Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, expressed optimism about Trump's involvement.
"We think that, given our relationship with them and the latitude they have given us, they will support it," he said. "We hope so."
Others were less optimistic. Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who went to a rally in Cornyn's home state on Monday night, said, "My impression of returning from El Paso with him last night is that he think it's a pretty thin oatmeal. "
A rejection of the agreement by the president could plunge the Congress into a new crisis, with lawmakers not having a clear plan B. They must adopt some sort of funding law to avoid a new deadlock at midnight Friday and avoid moving to another short-term bill. it would only prolong the debate on borders.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Trump said of a possible stop: "I do not think that will happen."
However, he said that if he signed the agreement, he was keen to complete it by transferring money from what he described as less important sectors of the government.
"We have a lot of money in this country and we use some of that money – a small percentage of that money – to build the wall, which we desperately need," he said.
This could be more difficult than he had suggested, faced with challenges in federal or congressional court, or both.
The White House has long paved the way for Trump to use the executive 's action to bypbad Congress and allocate money to building walls. He could declare a national emergency or appeal to another executive to raise funds, including funds for military construction, disaster relief and drug control activities.
Mick Mulvaney, Acting Chief of Staff of the White House, said: "We will take all the money you can give us, then we will go and get it elsewhere – legally – in order to secure this barrier southern ". He said more than $ 5.7 billion in available funds had been identified.
McConnell, who previously said he was concerned about the concept of a national emergency declaration, said Tuesday that Trump "should feel free to use legal tools to bolster border security". .
The framework currently under study is causing a lot of anger among lawmakers, both right and left – more crooks at the border than many Democrats would like and too little for conservative Republicans – but its authors hailed it as a real compromise that would keep the government open and allow everyone to move on.
Trump was informed of Shelby's plan on Tuesday and seemed more optimistic after the meeting. "By examining all aspects, knowing that it will be linked to a lot of money from other sources," he tweeted, adding, "No matter the money from the wall, it is under construction as we speak! "
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer urged Trump to accept the package to avoid a new stalemate, calling the agreement in principle "good news".
The proposal, however, sparked the fury of some right-wing members, including Sean Hannity of Fox News, an intimate friend of the president, who called it a "garbage dump".
Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, issued a scathing statement that she and others had been "deceived".
"This so-called" agreement "is worse than a joke," she said.
The hosts of Fox & Friends, Trump 's favorite, however, urged the president to agree to the deal and leave the government open, relieving White House officials and congressional Republicans who nervously watched the news. Conservative media call predict where Trump would land.
Conservative Rep. Mark Meadows, a Republican from North Carolina and a close ally of the president, said that if Trump agrees, he could be spared by a "conservative uproar because everyone is expecting a action on the part of the executive ". This is despite the concerns of many Republicans about the executive override and the precedent that Trump might create for future presidents of both parties.
"Two things are clear. We will not stop the government and action on the part of the executive to reprogram additional funds for border security is needed, "Meadows said.
After the rally of El Paso, Trump boarded Air Force One, exalted by his turbulent crowd. But his attention quickly turned to the market as the presidential plane began to move away from the border town.
While his badistants provided him with explanations, Trump kept an eye on Fox News, who was playing aboard, according to a Republican who knew the president's interactions but was not allowed to speak privately about private conversations.
Despite the late hour, Trump began calling his allies, a process he continued on Tuesday at the White House.
The president made it clear that he wanted more money for the wall and feared that it would be considered a defeat for him by the media, according to the Republican. But others were waiting for him to sign anyway.
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