Trump Says He Threatened to Keep Government Closed for Years

Pelosi says government must re-open to advance border talks
Democrats and Trump remain at impasse over wall funding

Donald Trump speaks at a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on Jan. 4, 2019.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

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By Toluse Olorunnipa and Justin Sink

January 4, 2019 at 6:41 PM UTC

Updated on

January 4, 2019 at 7:35 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

President Donald Trump confirmed that he told congressional leaders he’d keep the government closed for a year or longer if Democrats refuse to provide more money to construct a wall on the border with Mexico.

“I did, absolutely, I said that,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, after he was asked to confirm an account of a meeting by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Schumer said after the meeting that Trump threatened to keep the government shut down for “months or even years.”