Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that President Donald Trump will shut down the government again if he doesn’t get border wall funding.
In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Mulvaney said the president is “willing to do whatever it takes to secure the border.”
“I think he actually is,’’ ready to shut down the government again if there's no bipartisan deal reached on border funding in the next three weeks.
“He does take this very seriously,” he added. “This is a serious humanitarian and security crisis, and as president of the united stating he takes the security of the nation as his highest priority. He doesn't want to shut the government down… He doesn't want to declare national emergency. What he wants to do is fix this the way things are supposed to get fixed with our government, which is through legislation.”
Mulvaney asserted the shutdown was worth it because the crisis at the border is not “made up” — and that “hundreds of known criminals” are in the next caravan on its way to the United States.
“Is it worth it for the president to secure the nation?” he said “Keep in mind, he's not making this up. There really is a humanitarian crisis on the border. There really is a security crisis on the border. I know that some people want to stick their head in the sand and say that's not the case. We have data there are hundreds of known criminals in the next caravan that is coming up through Mexico today. These are not made-up numbers.”
“I disagree with the concept that we don't have anything that we didn't have 35 days ago,” he added. “Now we have a bunch of Democrats saying they're willing to work with us. Thirty-five days ago all we had was [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.] saying that under no circumstances would she ever give any money at all [for a wall]. That's clearly changed. I think things are moving in the right direction.”
In a separate interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Mulvaney said the president will get his border wall funding “with or without Congress.”
“We don't go into this trying to shut the government down,” he said, adding, “It’s still better to get it through legislation. That's the right way to do it. At the end of the day, the president is going to secure the border, one way or another… the president's commitment is to protect the nation, and he’ll do it either with or without Congress."