US: Trump remains adamant on wall funding even as govt approaches shutdown

Washington, Dec 18: The United States administration is staring at a partial shutdown that would affect key departments like transportation, security and justice but President Donald Trump is not ready to cede any ground on his plan to build a wall on the border with Mexico. He has continued with his demand for increased funds for the proposed wall aimed at securing the US from immigrants and if his demand is not met by Friday, December 21, sites like Statue of Liberty could close for the upcoming holidays and public sector workers will left without pay.

Trump will leave for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for 16 days starting Friday. On Monday, the president lashed out at the Democrats in a tweet saying: "Anytime you hear a Democrat saying that you can have good Boarder (sic) Security without a Wall, write them off as just another politician following the party line." He later deleted the tweet which had yet another wrong spelling and posted it again with the blunder rectified.

On Sunday, December 16, Trump also took a dig at the previous Barack Obama administration saying its policy of child separation (again Trump erred, spelled it "Seperation") on the border was worse than how it is done now. He said the separation is important to prevent more people entering the US and added that the children were used by smugglers.

The Trump administration has come under severe criticism over its handling of families of immigrants at the border by separating the kids from their parents during the interrogation of the latter.

The Congress could see the third shutdown in two years with funding yet to be agreed for nine of 15 government agencies, including key ones like NASA and FDA.

The president said last week during a confrontational meeting with Democratic leaders at the Oval Office that he would be "proud" to shut down the government if the funding for the wall was not approved by the Congress.

Trump's Republican Party lost its majority in the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections held last month and the Democrats made a comeback. The GOP though has retained its control over the Senate.