Trump to build Mexico border wall ‘with or without Democrats’, says Sarah Sanders

The White House has threatened to “move forward” with its plan to build a border along the US/Mexico border “with or without Democrats”.

The statement comes after Donald Trump announced he would reopen the government without his demand for $5.7bn (£4.3bn) in border wall funding, and after democrats repeatedly rebuffed his efforts to force their hand on the issue.

“In 21 days President [Trump] is moving forward building the wall with or without the Democrats,” tweeted press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

She continued: “The only outstanding question is whether the Democrats want something or nothing.”

Mr Trump oversaw the longest government shutdown in US history in an attempt to force democrats to approve funding for his border wall. After 35 days, the president announced in the Rose Garden on Friday that congressional leadership had reached a deal to reopen the government on a short term, three-week basis.

That decision — and seeming capitulation — immediately caught the ire of conservative commentators who raised the issue as proving Mr Trump lacked the backbone necessary for tough negotiations.

“Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States,” conservative writer Ann Coulter wrote on Twitter after Mr Trump’s announcement on Friday.

Ms Coulter was one of several conservative voices who urged the president to shut down the government and demand funding for a border wall in December.

Mr Trump would likely encounter immediate legal resistance to any attempt to issue an executive order or state of emergency intended to build the border wall.