Trump holds working lunch, digs in on border fight amid shutdown

President Trump said Saturday that he will have lunch at the White House with a “large group” to discuss border security as Congress attempts to negotiate a funding bill to end a partial government shutdown. 

Will be having lunch in White House residence with large group concerning Border Security.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2018

The White House later released a list of the lunch’s attendees, which included Vice President Pence, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, the president’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, and fellow aide Shahira Knight. Trump also hosted Republican Sens. Mike Lee (Utah), Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Richard Shelby (Ala.), as well as GOP Reps. Mark Meadows (N.C.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Andy Biggs (Ariz.), according to the White House.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Saturday suggested it would be up to Senate Democrats and Trump to reach an understanding to reopen the government. 

{mosads}Parts of the government shut down at the end of the day on Friday after the House and Senate were unable to come to an agreement on funding. The main source of disagreement was Trump’s demand for $5 billion for his proposed wall along the southern border.

The Senate passed a stopgap measure earlier in the week that included $1.6 billion for border security.

The House then passed a measure that contained $5.7 billion for the wall, a bill that was stonewalled in the Senate.

The White House early in the week had signaled it would accept a funding bill to keep the government open that contained less than Trump’s desired $5 billion in wall funding, but the president reversed course late in the week amid criticism from his staunchest conservative supporters.

Friday’s shutdown, which affects about 25 percent of the federal government, is the third shutdown in the past year.

Trump pushed back on Saturday against criticism related to the shutdown and his decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria.

He justified the latter decision by arguing that the U.S. has already been engaged in the Middle Eastern country’s civil war longer than planned. He further declared the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is “largely defeated,” and that other countries “should be able to easily take care of whatever remains.”

I am in the White House, working hard. News reports concerning the Shutdown and Syria are mostly FAKE. We are negotiating with the Democrats on desperately needed Border Security (Gangs, Drugs, Human Trafficking & more) but it could be a long stay. On Syria, we were originally…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2018

….going to be there for three months, and that was seven years ago – we never left. When I became President, ISIS was going wild. Now ISIS is largely defeated and other local countries, including Turkey, should be able to easily take care of whatever remains. We’re coming home!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2018

The president’s latest remarks were less forceful than his initial announcement, in which he declared the U.S. had “won” and that the terrorist group was “defeated.”

Trump’s abrupt announcement on Wednesday that he would begin bringing U.S. forces home from Syria was met with overwhelming criticism from lawmakers in both major parties, including some of his most loyal congressional allies.

The move has also led to a pair of high-profile resignations. Defense Secretary James Mattis reportedly delivered his resignation to Trump after he was unable to change the president’s mind on his Syria strategy.

Moments before Trump’s Saturday morning tweets, CBS News reported that Brett McGurk, the special envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, plans to resign sooner than previously planned in light of the president’s decision.

— Updated 1:28 p.m.