The White House is preparing to accept a bipartisan pact that would give President Donald Trump a fraction of the money he has demanded to erect a wall on the border with Mexico.
Participants said that the money for physical barriers is far less than the 5.7 billion dollars that Trump has requested to begin the construction of the wall, which has acquired an iconic meaning for his conservative supporters.
If an agreement is reached it would also avoid falling into a new partial government shutdown next weekend. Trump has warned that it could provoke a new closure in the agencies if they do not grant him the money for the wall, but that threat has been left without real bases due to the firm opposition of Republican legislators worn out by the record 35-day government closure that he started in December.
“During all the talks, the Democrats have insisted that a negotiated solution to border security does not lean too much on physical barriers,” said Evan Hollander, a spokesman for the Democrats who control the Budget Appropriations Commission.
“We will not accede to a financing of 2,000 million dollars for barriers”.
A White House adviser said Trump is expected to back any negotiated solution that comes
The advisor spoke on condition of anonymity to be able to describe the internal conversations.
