Trump Threatens To Close Southern Border, Says It Would Be A 'Profit Making Operation'

President Trump on Friday threatened to close the southern border "entirely" if he does not get the funding he needs for his border wall, saying that it would be a "profit-making operation" to do so.

Friday, December 28th 2018, 11:11 am

By: News 9

Trump Threatens To Close Southern Border, Says It Would Be A 'Profit Making Operation'

President Trump on Friday threatened to close the southern border "entirely" if he does not get the funding he needs for his border wall, saying that it would be a "profit-making operation" to do so. He also said the U.S. would be cutting off "all aid" to three Central American countries -- Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador -- that he said are the source of immigrant caravans coming to the U.S.

"We build a wall or we close the southern border," he said in a series of Friday morning tweets.

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Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney reiterated to reporters that Mr. Trump would be willing to shut down the border, saying "yes" when asked of the president meant what he said in his tweets. CBS has estimated that closing the southern border would cost up to $1billion a day.

Still, as the partial government shutdown enters day seven, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told "CBS This Morning" Friday that Mr. Trump is "willing to negotiate" with Democrats on the $5 billion he is requesting to fund the wall.

Sanders blasted Democrats for the standoff that is now expected to keep roughly 800,000 federal workers from receiving paychecks into the New Year, claiming they have "left the table altogether" but would not offer details on what the president might be willing to agree to.

"I'm not going to negotiate in the press, but the president has been willing to negotiate on this point and the Democrats have not been willing to do anything," Sanders said. "It's a very sad day when we can't get Democrats to even show up for work and sit down with us and have these conversations and try to help make real solutions and get something done."

Mulvaney also said negotiations have completely shutdown, and repeated Sanders argument that Democrats were more interested in protecting Nancy Pelosi's speakership than the border. Because of this, he said, they did not anything substantive until she was elected speaker by Democrat majority on January 3rd.

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Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney reiterated to reporters that Mr. Trump would be willing to shut down the border, saying \"yes\" when asked of the president meant what he said in his tweets. CBS has estimated that closing the southern border would cost up to $1billion a day.

Still, as the partial government shutdown enters day seven, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told \"CBS This Morning\" Friday that Mr. Trump is \"willing to negotiate\" with Democrats on the $5 billion he is requesting to fund the wall.

Sanders blasted Democrats for the standoff that is now expected to keep roughly 800,000 federal workers from receiving paychecks into the New Year, claiming they have \"left the table altogether\" but would not offer details on what the president might be willing to agree to.

\"I'm not going to negotiate in the press, but the president has been willing to negotiate on this point and the Democrats have not been willing to do anything,\" Sanders said. \"It's a very sad day when we can't get Democrats to even show up for work and sit down with us and have these conversations and try to help make real solutions and get something done.\"

","published":"2018-12-28T17:11:00.000Z","updated":"2018-12-28T17:12:55.000Z","summary":"President Trump on Friday threatened to close the southern border \"entirely\" if he does not get the funding he needs for his border wall, saying that it would be a \"profit-making operation\" to do so.","affiliate":{"_id":"5cc353fe1c9d440000d3b70f","callSign":"kwtv","origin":"https://www.news9.com"},"contentClass":"news","createdAt":"2020-01-31T19:35:35.791Z","updatedAt":"2022-03-30T21:05:18.467Z","__v":2,"show":true,"link":"/story/5e348187527dcf49dad763b1/trump-threatens-to-close-southern-border-says-it-would-be-a-profit-making-operation","hasSchedule":false,"id":"5e348187527dcf49dad763b1"};