A WALL is a WALL!” Trump tweeted. This led to a standoff in which Trump — trying unsuccessfully to increase pressure on Congress — refused to fully fund government, shutting down swaths of federal jobs for five weeks. If they don’t agree to provide wall funding before a February 15 deadline, Trump says he’ll impose another shutdown or bypass Congress by seeking emergency funds. Pelosi is “just playing games.”He confirmed that if wall building money is not provided, he is ready to declare an emergency. An emergency declaration would allow Trump to siphon off funds already appropriated for military and emergency uses.

Source: Punch January 31, 2019 19:30 UTC