No end to govt shutdown until border wall funded: Donald Trump

Washington, Dec 25: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ruled out an end to the partial government shutdown till the Congress approve funds for building a wall along the Mexican border to prevent entry of illegal immigrants.

Democrats and some Republicans have rejected Trump's demand for the US-Mexico border, following which on last week he refused to sign a wider spending bill, temporarily stripping funding from swaths of the government.

"I can't tell you when the government is going to reopen…(Not until) we have a wall, a fence, whatever they would like to call it. I'll call it whatever they want. But it's all the same thing. It's a barrier from people pouring into our country…a barrier from drugs," Trump told reporters in his Oval office.

"There is a problem in this world today called human trafficking…We are not going to let that take place. We are working so hard to catch these traffickers...We can't do it without a barrier...without a wall. It's my hope to have this done, completed — all 500 to 550 miles — to have it either renovated or brand new by election time," he said.

The Trump administration is seeking more than USD 5 billion for the construction of the border wall. He said progress has been made in building a wall in some places, including, in California, which has been "difficult to deal with because of the governor".

The people of San Diego wanted the wall built, he asserted, adding, "People were walking through Mexico right into San Diego, right over people's front lawns by the hundreds, by the thousands. And they came to us, they asked for a wall…A drone isn't going to stop it."

PTI