Coulter: Trump ‘dead in the water’ if he caves on wall

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter in a new interview criticized President Trump for failing to negotiate an end to the ongoing partial government shutdown, but warned he’s “dead in the water” if he fails to build a wall along the southern border, Newsweek reported early Wednesday.

Coulter reportedly told HBO’s “Vice News Tonight” that she supports Trump standing his ground during the shutdown over his demand for more than $5 billion to fund the border wall.

“It is self-preservation because he is dead in the water if he does not build that wall. Dead, dead, dead,” she said.

{mosads}“More Americans die from drug overdose every year than died in the entire course of the Vietnam War, and the vast majority of those drugs are being brought in because we have a wide-open border,” she added. “I care more about that than I care about the Yosemite gift shop being open.”

Newsweek reported that Coulter, who previously said she expected Trump to “fold” in negotiations over wall funding, lamented that the president had not already followed through on his signature campaign promise to build the wall, saying his negotiating skills ““turns out [to] have been exaggerated.”

Roughly 25 percent of the federal government has been shuttered for nearly four weeks as Trump demands funding for the border wall, something Democrats have staunchly opposed. The president is set to meet with members of Congress on Wednesday, though a breakthrough does not appear imminent.

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) on Tuesday urged Coulter to tell Trump that “it’s OK” to fully reopen the federal government, a nod to the influence conservative personalities have on the White House.