Deal or No Deal, 'Wall Will Get Built'

President Trump's Tuesday meeting with Democratic leaders to negotiate funding for his proposed border wall should be interesting given that Trump started the morning by claiming work is already well underway and will be fully completed regardless of what Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi have to say. "If the Democrats do not give us the votes to secure our Country, the Military will build the remaining sections of the Wall. They know how important it is!" Trump said in a series of tweets ahead of the 11:30am EST meeting, which comes as Congress seeks to finalize spending before a possible partial government shutdown on Dec. 21, per Reuters. "People do not yet realize how much of the Wall, including really effective renovation, has already been built," he continued, per CNBC, adding migrants who arrived to the US in caravans "have not been able to get through."

Yet "for strictly political reasons," Democrats "want Open Borders for anyone to come in. This brings large scale crime and disease," Trump said, adding that "the Wall will get built." Senate Democratic Leader Schumer supports a bipartisan spending deal including $1.6 billion in border security funding, but not the $5 billion Trump says is necessary to build the 30-foot-high concrete wall he once hoped Mexico would fund. Last week, House Democratic Leader Pelosi rejected the idea of providing funding in exchange for legal protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought to the US illegally as children. Most Americans appear to side with Democrats: Some 69% say a border wall shouldn't be an immediate priority for Congress in a poll cited by NPR, while 57% believe Trump should compromise on the wall to avoid a government shutdown. (Still, Trump says he's firm.)