President Donald Trump released a Department of Homeland Security briefing that Democrats interrupted on Wednesday, as they refused to fund border security in their bills to reopen the government.
“Some of those present did not want to hear the presentation at the time, and so I have instead decided to make the presentation available to all Members of Congress,” Trump wrote in his letter released moments prior to a second meeting with Democrats at the White House.
According to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Democrats interrupted Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen’s Wednesday briefing in the Situation Room.
The White House released the eight-page briefing as well as a letter from the president to all members of Congress.
Trump congratulated the newly anointed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and urged legislators to fund border security.
“As we begin this new Congress, our first task should be to reopen the Government and to deliver on our highest duty as elected officials: the security of the Nation and its borders,” he wrote.
Trump called for members of Congress to listen to law enforcement personnel on the border and take into account the facts on the ground regarding the border.
“Absolutely critical to border security and national security is a wall or a physical barrier that prevents entry in the first place,” he wrote.
The federal government is now in the 14th day of a partial shutdown resulting from the impasse between Democrats and President Trump.