‘Chuck And Nancy’ Battle Trump Over Government Shutdown

Nancy Pelosi, Vice President Pence, President Trump and Chuck Schumer Image by Getty Images

By Alyssa Fisher December 11, 2018

There was yelling. There was finger-pointing. There were threats to shut down the government.

Just another Tuesday in the White House.

In an extraordinary meeting between President Trump, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and likely incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi devolved into sparring over payments for border security.

“Chuck and Nancy,” as they’ve come to be known, sat across from each other on couches in the Oval Office, on opposite sides of Trump.

“We do not want to shut down the government. You have called twenty times to shut down the government. … We don’t,” Schumer said to Trump.

Trump retorted: “I am proud to shut down the government for border security.”

Pelosi tried to end it, a few times: “I don’t think we should have a debate in front of the press on this.”

President Trump engages in an Oval Office clash with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi over border security as the shutdown deadline looms

Pelosi: “I don’t think we should have a debate in front of the press on this” pic.twitter.com/gopvtJKpXO

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 11, 2018

This isn’t the first time the president has threatened to shut down the government over funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to Huffpost. He wants $5 billion for the wall, but Schumer and Pelosi suggest a set of bipartisan proposals that give $1.3 billion toward border security. The deadline to reach a new funding deal is Dec. 21.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

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