11 images which sum up Trump’s tense border discussion with Democratic leaders
The president said during the open-press session: ‘If we don’t have border security, we’ll shut down the government.’ The president said during the open-press session: ‘If we don’t have border security, we’ll shut down the government.’
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and if that’s true then the images from US President Donald Trump’s discussion with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have really racked up the word count.
Trump and vice president Mike Pence sat down with Pelosi and Schumer in the White House Oval Office, where the president escalated his government shutdown threat over funding for his proposed Mexico border wall.
President Donald Trump speaks to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., during a meeting with Democratic leadership in the Oval Office of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP/PA Images)
“If we don’t have border security, we’ll shut down the government,” said Trump.
He also said his long-promised wall would be built one way or another, and earlier pledged that the military would build it if Democrats blocked the funding.
Government funding for some agencies is set to expire on December 21, threatening a partial shutdown.
Schumer has said: “We shouldn’t shut down the government over a dispute.”
House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., argue during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP/PA Images)
Schumer and Pelosi have both urged the president to find another solution, but Trump responded by saying he would be “proud to shut down the government”, and that he would “take the mantle”.
House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., argue during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP/PA Images) Vice President Mike Pence, center, listens as President Donald Trump argues with House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP/PA Images)
The images from the open-press session were priceless, often resembling a bickering family.
House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wait as media leave a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP/PA Images)
The hand gestures were abundant as the group continued to talk.
Vice President Mike Pence, center, listens as President Donald Trump argues with House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP/PA Images) President Donald Trump talks with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP/PA Images) President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence meet with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in the Oval Office of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP/PA Images) Vice President Mike Pence, center, looks on as House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and President Donald Trump speak during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP/PA Images)
Pelosi was unimpressed by the meeting’s acrimony, saying: “This has spiralled downwards.”
President Donald Trump meets with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in the Oval Office of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP/PA Images)
Both Pelosi and Schumer made it clear they would like to debate the issues, but in private.
And while the meeting was indeed a tense one, the group did agree on one thing, with Trump saying: “We need border security and I think we all agree that we need border security”, to which Schumer said: “Yes.”
President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in the Oval Office of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP/PA Images)
“See? We get along,” Trump added. It certainly did not look that way.
