Trump Expresses Hope Government Shutdown Will Not Last Long

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd December, 2018) US President Donald Trump expressed hope that the US government shutdown, which is due at midnight EST on Friday (05:00 GMT on Saturday), will not last long.

Trump said in a video address published on his Twitter that "there is nothing we can do" about the looming government shutdown, adding that the Republicans needed the votes of the Democrats in order to approve the government spending bill which would include funding for the construction of a wall on the Mexican border, which Trump has been pushing for and which has become a stumbling block in approving the government budget.

"Let's work together, let's be bipartisan and let's get it done. The shutdown hopefully will not last long," Trump said.

In his speech, the president emphasized the need for border security for the United States, saying he did not want criminal gangs, human trafficking and drugs pouring through the border into the country.

"With a wall, or a slat fence, or whatever you want to call it, but we need a great barrier. And if we don't have it, it's never going to work," Trump explained.

On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed the spending bill allocating $5 billion for the construction of the wall on the border with Mexico. The Senate lawmakers, who have opposed the border wall project, however, adjourned on Friday, failing to avert the shutdown, in order to reconvene on Saturday.