Trump's questionable claim regarding a federal employee's support for closure is a well-known tactic

Call them the mysterious federal workers of President Donald Trump.

In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly claimed that he had heard of government employees who are not paid because of the partial closure of the government, but who nevertheless have urged to remain fighting for a US-Mexican border wall.

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The only problem: there is no evidence that they exist in the large numbers suggested by Trump.

"Many of those who will not receive a paycheque, many of these people totally agree with what I'm doing," Trump told reporters on Sunday at a press conference held on Friday. He insisted that "many people you think are upset – and they certainly are not happy – but they say," Sir, do what's right, we need border security. "And they are people who will not get paid. "

But the White House refused to provide evidence that the president had spoken to federal employees affected by the 17-day shutdown, outside of a group of union officials supporting Trump representing Border Patrol and police and customs employees A White House official, who refused to register, said Trump was talking regularly with government employees through the administration and that many of them thanked him for being focused on border security.

Trump relies on many distortions and falsities to lead his crusade against the wall. It will intensify in the coming days with a prime time speech Tuesday night and a visit Thursday at the border. He also turned to a well-known rhetorical trick: he relies on unclear and often improbable sources.

In his speeches and rallies, the president regularly announces anonymous personalities – friends, leaders and businessmen – who, he said, have given their full support for him. Among them is a friend named "Jim" – a "very very important guy" – that Trump said last year told him that he had stopped traveling to Paris because immigrants there. Had made it too dangerous and unpleasant. The White House would not provide Jim's complete identity. Sometimes he is even more shameless, as when he told an interviewer last year, during massive demonstrations in London against his July visit to the UK, that "

Last week, Trump claimed that former presidents told him in private that they regretted not having built a wall themselves. (People close to the President: Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have disputed this claim.)

A Republican close to the White House has described the tactic as a symptom of Trump's refusal to pay. accept blame or lose a culprit. argument.

Meanwhile, Trump broadened or widened the truth in several ways while he pleaded for closure of the government in order to secure funding for a border wall.

He declared that the new US-Mexican-Canadian partnership The commercial agreement will pay for the wall – even though Congress has not yet approved the pact and that it is the US taxpayers, and not Mexico, who will pay the bill of revenue generated by the agreement. Trump also insisted that terrorists enter the United States via the southern border, although the State Department says it has "no credible evidence" to support this claim.

And with respect to Trump's assertions about support for federal workers, union leaders say their members almost have Jacqueline Simon, director of policy at the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal labor union. from the country, expressed deep concern over the closure, worrying about the payment of their bills and in some cases fearing to be evicted for late payment of rent and mortgage.

stated that she had not heard from anyone who thought closing was a good thing.

"Of course, no one called me to tell him that and my phone never stops ringing," she said. "They are terrified."

She adds, "There are apparently a small number of federal employees who support the closure, but the vast majority are not." AFGE were called to a teleconference organized by the union. on Sunday. No one who spoke during the phone call said he wanted the closure to continue, Simon said.

There is no less foundation for Trump's request. The President highlighted the meeting he had last week with representatives of the National Border Patrol Council and the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, two unions that endorsed Trump's candidacy for the presidency and regularly applauded its immigration policy. National Border Patrol Chairman Brandon Judd, for example, is a frequent guest on Fox News and has received praise from the president on Twitter.

"There is a lot of talk about this closure, that federal employees do not agree with this closure. I will tell you that this is not true, "Judd said in a speech to reporters in the White House briefing room after he and his associates met privately with Trump. Many border patrol officers are required to work unpaid during the stop. Neither Judd, nor the representatives of the border patrol unions and ICE responded to the interview requests.

This meeting seemed to make a strong impression on the president – even though close advisers say the president usually eliminates the majority of federal employees as left-leaning democrats.

"I have never supported the position I took last week on border security, border control and, frankly, wall or barrier," he said. he told the press day. "I've never had anything like that in terms of incoming calls, people writing and tweeting and doing everything they have to do. I have never had so much support. And you did some things that, as you know, were very popular.

Yet there is no evidence that the Border Patrol and ICE perspective reflects that of a much larger group of federal employees. And it's unclear whether Trump spoke to other people directly affected by the judgment. The White House did not provide any indication that the President was interacting directly with fired federal employees, and only a few days ago he was barely mentioning them in his discussions about closing the market.

More than 70% of federal workers polled a recent poll indicated that they opposed the closure, while only 22% said support it. Thirty percent of workers said they supported the Trump Wall, although 35 percent of those who supported it said it was not worth it to overthrow the government. This support could further decline if the closure were extended, which would create greater financial hardship for unpaid workers. Trump said he was ready to keep the government closed for months or even years.

Trump's insistence that the public be on his side may also reflect his tendency to surround himself with people who reinforce his pre-existing worldview – from Fox News hosts to opponents of immigration , passing by Chinese hawks and trade protectionists.

While the closure continues without a sign of breakthrough, there is little indication that the president is backing away from his request for funding in the amount of $ 5.6 billion.

"I think the greatest attribute of President Trump is his stubbornness," Trump's longtime associate, Roger Stone, said in an interview. "I think he understands that in American politics, if you do not have your base, you have nothing. "

" I do not see him bending, "added Stone, though he did allow Trump to conclude an agreement "if someone proposes a reasonable compromise allowing him to declare victory with a reasonable level of credibility. "

Another Republican close to the White House said that the administration was becoming much more aggressive in its messages regarding the closure of last week, with the president. he can win the political battle around the closure by making the whole problem of the border.

With the resumption of Congress, government officials understand the need to maintain Republican support of Congress, A former head of the administration, especially those to be reelected in 2020,

The close Republican close to the White House attributed the president's aggressive tone to White's influence Hou. Mick Mulvaney, acting chief of staff, worked on three stops for the Trump administration and feels more comfortable than Kelly in politics and messaging.

After not having received specific instructions from the White House last week, pro-Trump Discussion points were communicated to surrogates on Monday indicating the exact credits requested by the administration.

This includes $ 5.7 billion for the construction of a "steel fence" at the border, of a length of 234 miles, according to an email obtained by POLITICO; at least $ 563 million for 75 additional immigration judges and support staff to reduce the backlog of pending immigration files; $ 571 million for 2,000 additional ICE staff; $ 211 million for the hiring of additional border patrol officers; $ 4.2 billion to support 52,000 detention beds for migrants and illegal immigrants; and $ 800 million to fund additional medical assistance, supplies and transportation for temporary immigration facilities.

The application also includes $ 675 million to provide a "non-intrusive" inspection technology at the points of entry, says the email – and promises that Trump will work with Congress to expand the processing of asylum applications in the country.

Despite Trump's imminent visit to the border and his prime-time speech on Tuesday night, Democrats remain insensitive to the White House's efforts to make wall construction the solution to closure.

Darren Samuelsohn contributed to this story.