He ain’t skeered! Facing a government shutdown if Democrats block funding for the wall, President Trump says, fund it or shut it down!

Thomas MadisonAugust 28, 2017

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CALEXICO, CA - MARCH 25: A group of people use an inner tube to float down the New River, reportedly the most polluted river in the US, after crossing the US/Mexico border from Mexico on March 25, 2005 in Calexico, California. Illegal immigrants who float the river carry a dry change of clothing in plastic bags so they will not stand out in a crowd if they reach a city. Since the launch of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1995, two-way trade has boomed between the US and Mexico, and Mexican dollars are fueling development in economically-depressed Calexico, California. Border communities are now growing increasingly worried that the recent economic gains may be lost as the Bush administration's efforts to tighten security in order to prevent terrorists or their weapons from crossing the border could slow the wheels of commerce. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

President Trump needs to get well ahead of this and make it clear that any government shutdown will be on the hands of congressional Democrats for not funding the border wall. His communications folks need to go into overdrive with the message that the Democrats are responsible for the shutdown. Fund it or close the government!

President Trump stood firm Monday on his threat to shut down the government if congressional Democrats block funding for a wall on the border with Mexico, saying the wall was crucial to U.S. security and stopping the flow of illegal drugs, reports The Washington Times.

Mr. Trump said he hoped a shutdown wouldn’t be necessary. “We’ll have to see,” he said.

“The wall is needed from the standpoint of security. the wall is needed from the standpoint of drugs — the tremendous drug scourge,” Mr. Trump said at a White House press conference.

“We will build the wall and we will stop a lot of things including the drugs, the drugs are pouring in at levels nobody has ever seen. We will be able to stop them once the wall is up,” he said.

The wall was a top campaign promise for Mr. Trump but he now faces solid resistance from Senate Democrats, who could block funding for the project despite Republican control of the both chambers of Congress.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump promoted the wall mostly as a way to stop illegal immigrants but at the press conference he stressed its value in combating the drug trade, as the country remains in the rip of an epidemic opioid and heroine addiction.

“You need the wall to do the rest and you need the wall for the drugs. The drugs are a tremendous problem,” said Mr. Trump. “It will greatly help with the drug problem and ultimately that’s a good thing with Mexico also.”