Trump says he will be 'looking for landmines' in spending deal
by Steven Nelson
| February 13, 2019 12:53 PM
President Trump continued Wednesday to express openness to signing a bipartisan spending deal to prevent another partial government shutdown, even without specific border wall funds but said he would first carefully scrutinize the legislation.
"We haven’t gotten it yet. We’ll be getting it, and we’ll be looking for land mines" within the legislation, Trump told reporters at the White House.
“I don’t want to see a shutdown. A shutdown would be a terrible thing," Trump said, facing a weekend deadline before a three-week spending measure runs out.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the package Thursday night, even though Trump has not definitively expressed his support.
Trump's openness to signing the bill flies in the face of some conservative opposition from figures, such as Fox News host Sean Hannity, who complain that $1.375 billion for physical barriers along 55 miles of border in the Rio Grande valley falls far short of Trump's request for $5.7 billion specifically for a wall or steel barrier.
Similar criticism in December prompted Trump to unexpectedly refuse to sign legislation without wall funds when conservative allies said it may be the last chance for funding, launching a 35-day partial government shutdown.
Trump said Wednesday that “points were made†during the shutdown, but he didn't want a repeat of the impasse, which hurt his standing in polls.
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters that " at first glance ... I'm not happy" with the deal but that he was looking for ways to pull money from other parts of the government on his own and use it to fund a border wall. Trump didn't say whether he would do this through the declaration of a national emergency but did say, "I'm considering everything."
On Wednesday, he again suggested alternative funding avenues, saying "with the wall they want to be stingy, but we have options they don't even understand."
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/trump-says-he-will-be-looking-for-landmines-in-spending-deal
