Congressional Democrats refused to listen to his border security brief Wednesday, so President Donald Trump sent the slides of the entire presentation in a Friday letter to every member of Congress as well as reporters.
.@POTUS sent the slides of a border security briefing to every Member of Congress after the Wednesday White House meeting when Democratic lawmakers were uninterested in seeing them pic.twitter.com/oIWOHoUmKB
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 4, 2019
“It had been my hope that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen would have the opportunity to deliver a presentation discussing the facts about the depth and severity of the humanitarian crisis and the security crisis that is now unfolding at the Southern Border,” Trump wrote in the letter, adding “however, some of those present did not want to hear the presentation at the time, and so I have instead decided to make the presentation available to all Members of Congress.”
A White House official familiar with the meeting conveyed this account of the meeting to The Daily Caller Wednesday afternoon noting that neither Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer would even allow Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to begin her briefing. The meeting instead devolved into negotiations over how to end the partial government shutdown, in a fight centering around border wall funding. (Related: Trump Refuses To Budge in Shutdown Demand: ‘As Long As It Takes’)
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, House Speaker designate Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer talk to journalists (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Pelosi and Schumer have both declared they will not appropriate anymore than $1.3 billion in border security funding, and that none of it could be used for building a wall. Trump conversely is demanding 5.6 billion and has said he will keep the government partially closed as long as is necessary.
Trump is meeting with Pelosi and Schumer again Friday for another meeting on ending the partial government shutdown.