Could Trump’s threat get his Mexico-US border wall built?

By Lesley Clark, McClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is threatening a government shutdown unless he gets Congress to pony up cash for his border wall with Mexico. But he will need a few Senate Democrats to go along, and even those in red states the president won aren’t budging.

Senate Democrats are united in opposition against money for the wall that Trump promises will be paid for by Mexico “one way or the other.” Even vulnerable Democrats, up for re-election in 2018 in Trump-friendly states, are buoyed by polls that suggest the only support for the wall is among Trump’s fervent fan base.

“Democrats ought to call his bluff and see if he’s really willing to shut down the United States government over a campaign promise that he cannot deliver on,” said Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute, a centrist Democratic-leaning research group.

“It’s hard for me to find a place anywhere in the country where a Democrat couldn’t stand on his or her two…