President Trump vowed to block full funding for the government if Democrats refused to finance his border wall, in an unusual televised public sparring in the Oval Office, above. The testy back-and-forth with the Democratic congressional leaders, Representative Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer, raised fresh concerns that the two sides might not reach an agreement on spending bills by a Dec. 21 deadline. Mr. Trump wants $5 billion for the border wall, but the administration has yet to spend much of the $1.3 billion Congress approved for border security last year. None of that money can be used to construct a new concrete wall of the sort the president has said is vital.

Source: New York Times December 11, 2018 23:08 UTC