President Donald Trump said congressional negotiations over border security are a 'waste of time' and he will probably take action independently when talks conclude in two weeks.
Speaking to the New York Times in an interview published on Thursday night, Trump insisted he has 'set the stage' to take action on his own if lawmakers don't provide funding for his border wall.
He also said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 'is hurting our country very badly by doing what's she doing and, ultimately, I think I've set the table very nicely.'
The President added: 'I'll continue to build the wall, and we'll get the wall finished. Now whether or not I declare a national emergency — that you'll see.'
Trump has threatened to declare a national emergency to get the wall built, but such a move would be challenged in court, tying up the money indefinitely.
Following the Democrats' capture of House control in the November election, Trump's political muscle has weakened.
It waned further after his surrender last week in ending the record 35-day partial government shutdown without getting a penny of the $5.7 billion he'd demanded to start building the wall.
When Trump folded on the shutdown, he agreed to reopen government until February 15, giving lawmakers more time to craft a bipartisan border security compromise.
If there's no deal by then, Trump has threatened to revive the shutdown or declare a national emergency, which he claims would let him shift billions from unrelated military construction projects to erecting his wall.
Meanwhile, Pelosi today declared that there'll be no 'wall money' in any compromise border security deal as she and Trump signaled that congressional negotiators may never satisfy his demands for his cherished Southwest border proposal.
The President has criticized Democrats' negotiating stance so far, telling reporters in the Oval Office that Pelosi is 'just playing games' and saying GOP bargainers are 'wasting their time'.
Democrats remain united against those tactics. Republican opposition seems nearly as strong, and GOP leaders are becoming increasingly assertive about publicly telegraphing those feelings to Trump.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters that 'there are a lot of us that are trying to dissuade' Trump from declaring a national emergency should border security talks deadlock.
Cornyn, a close adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said he has 'absolute confidence' that such a declaration would be challenged in court, tying up the money, and said Congress might even vote to defy him.
'The president needs to know that before he heads down that path,' Cornyn said.
No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Thune of South Dakota told reporters that 'a lot of folks are uncomfortable' with an emergency declaration. He stopped short of ruling out a challenge by the Senate, calling the question 'hypothetical'.
Lawmakers caution that if Trump declares an emergency, future Democratic presidents might do the same for issues they favor that Congress derails. Some are reluctant to cede Congress' constitutional power to control spending to any president, and many say there is no real border emergency.
Democrats offered further details of their border security plan Thursday, unveiling a measure that would provide no wall funds.
It would significantly boost spending for scanners at ports of entry, humanitarian aid for apprehended migrants, and new aircraft and ships to police the U.S.-Mexico border.
It would freeze the number of border patrol agents and block any wall construction in wildlife refuges along the border.
Without a border security accord, lawmakers could avert another shutdown by once again temporarily financing dozens of federal agencies, perhaps for months.
Trump has been unpredictable in the shutdown debate, mixing softer rhetoric about a multifaceted approach to border security with campaign-style bluster about the wall.
Lawmakers negotiating the bill are aware that he could quash an agreement at any time, plunging them back into crisis.
'Obviously, it makes it more challenging,' Cornyn told reporters. 'You keep talking and try to understand where he is and try to work it out.'
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