Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reports this afternoon that Trump told him he would keeping the government shutdown going for months or even years if he did not receive money for his fantasy border wall.
Trump helpfully confirmed that he said that while speaking in the Rose Garden shortly after Schumer spoke to reporters.
President Donald Trump says that he told congressional leaders the partial government shutdown could go on for months or years. But he said he didn’t think it would. [...]
In the Rose Garden after the meeting Friday, Trump said he wouldn’t end up reopening the closed government agencies until he gets border security. “We have to get a structure built,” he said.
If the shutdown actually continues for a month, let alone multiple months, it will be a disaster for millions of people.
Ironically enough, the border patrol agents Trump claims to revere are currently working without pay and, if this continues for much longer, many could be forced to quit and look for other opportunities.
I don't necessarily care if the border patrol shrinks, but that will not happen in a vacuum. Up to 800,000 federal workers may not be paid because of the shutdown and that's 800,000 people who are not spending money like they normally would. That's going to take a bite out of the economy if it continues as long as Trump says it will.