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President Donald Trump talks to reporters during a meeting of his cabinet at the White House on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wasn’t happy with an agreement in principle on border security struck by congressional negotiators, but notably didn’t say he’d reject it and predicted there wouldn’t be another government shutdown.
NOT ‘THRILLED’ WITH BORDER DEAL
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Trump said “I can’t say I’m happy” about the deal, which includes $1.38 billion to build 55 miles of new barriers along the border with Mexico. That’s far below the $5.7 billion Trump demanded to build more than 200 miles of wall. “I can’t say I’m thrilled,” he said.
But the president said “I don’t think you’re going to see a shutdown,” and said there would be a meeting later. Without congressional action by 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the government would again partially shut down.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who was one of the negotiators, told MSNBC lawmakers weren’t trying to pass something that would “thrill” the president.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.49% jumped more than 300 points Tuesday on optimism over avoiding a shutdown.
Also see: McConnell praises border security pact reached by congressional negotiators.
XI MEETING
Trump was noncommittal on the timing of a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying only he intended to see Xi sometime in the future. He spoke as U.S. and Chinese officials are meeting in Beijing and focusing on producing a broad outline of a trade deal for their presidents to clinch at a possible summit.
He said the Chinese “very much want to make a deal.”
OMAR’S APOLOGY ‘LAME’
A day after Rep. Ilhan Omar apologized for comments that were criticized as anti-Semitic, Trump said he thought the Minnesota Democrat should either quit Congress or resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
He called the freshman lawmaker’s apology “lame.” After suggesting support for Israel on Capitol Hill is driven by money, Omar said she was grateful for Jewish “allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes.” She added that “At the same time, I reaffirm the problematic role of lobbyists in our politics, whether it be [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee], the NRA or the fossil fuel industry,” Omar added.
Now read: Here’s how the pro-Israel lobby — just criticized by Ilhan Omar — stacks up against other Washington influencers.
Also at the cabinet meeting, Trump said he is thinking of putting on a Fourth of July parade or “gathering,” perhaps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. “We’re thinking about doing something which would become perhaps become a tradition, Salute to America,” Trump said. The president has previously expressed a desire for a military parade, but canceled plans for one.
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