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Donald Trump is facing fire from his own party as the US government shutdown continues into its second week.
The shutdown has been caused by disagreements between Trump and Congress about how much funding should be given to his planned border wall along the US-Mexico border.
On Friday, the President set a new ultimatum for lawmakers.
Either build the wall or he’ll close the border entirely.
Outgoing Republican congressman Ryan Costello was less than impressed by the threat.
Speaking to CNN, he said:
This struck me as like an angry eighth-grader’s tweet.
I don’t really know how to make sense of it because I don’t think he can do this even if he wanted to.
It probably violates NAFTA [the US trade deal with Mexico]. I don’t think he’ll have much if any support in Congress. Nor do I think logistically he’d be able to implement it.
And when you start throwing out vacuous threats like this, people stop taking you seriously in terms of how you go about negotiating.
Ouch.
On the same day, outgoing Republican Senator Jeff Flake, said ‘somebody needs to challenge' Trump in 2020 from within his own party.
And as usual, Trump caught his fair share of criticism on Twitter.
Although I’m not entirely sure if this person is for or against the president.
Costello is right when he says Trump’s threat is an empty one, reports the Washington Post.
Remember when Trump struggled to pass the “Muslim ban” on people entering from a group of Muslim-majority countries?
Those plans were repeatedly blocked by courts and any attempt to close the southern border would face even more backlash.
He also wouldn’t be able to legally stop US citizens from re-entering the country from Mexico.
In short, Trump can’t shut down the border entirely, even if he wanted to.
So for now, he'll just have to settle for shutting down the government.
HT: Huff Post
More: US government shutdown: Employees told to barter for rent while they wait to be paid
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