Carlos Barria/Reuters
President Trump told reporters Friday he was “proud” of the partial government shutdown. “I’m very proud of doing what I’m doing... I don’t call it a shutdown. I call it ‘doing what you have to do for the safety and the benefit of our country,’” Trump said during a press conference in the Rose Garden. “You can call it whatever you want—the Schumer, the Pelosi or Trump shutdown—it doesn’t make any difference to me. They’re just words.” The president also confirmed to reporters that he did tell Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at an earlier White House meeting that the shutdown could last for “months or even years.”
“We made a plea to the president once again: Don’t hold millions of Americans, hundreds of thousands of workers hostage. Open up the government and let’s continue discussions,” Schumer told reporters after that meeting. “He resisted. In fact, he said he’d keep the government closed for a very long time, months or even years.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) echoed Schumer’s sentiments, telling reporters the discussions over border-wall funding should continue when the shutdown ends. “We cannot resolve this until we open up government,” Pelosi said.