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WASHINGTON, Dec. 11-- U.S. President Donald Trump said he would be "proud to shut down the government for border security" during a heated meeting with Democratic congressional leaders inside the White House on Tuesday. Trump's meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was meant to prevent a potential government shutdown later this month, but "has spiraled downwards," Pelosi said. The sticking point is the funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border that Trump has promised. "One way or another it's going to get built. I'd like not to see a government closing, a shutdown. We will see what happens... But the wall is an important thing to us," Trump said at the beginning of the meeting. However, the president said later, "I am proud to shut down the government for border security... because people of this country don't want criminals and people that have lots of problems and drugs pouring into our country." Trump has asked for at least 5 billion U.S. dollars to be allocated for the construction of the wall, something congressional Democrats have rejected. The president said he would easily get the votes he needed in the House, but he still needed 10 Democratic votes in the Senate. Pelosi rebutted Trump's claim and said, "There are no votes in the House, the majority votes, for a wall." Schumer and Pelosi urged Trump to find other solutions to avoid a partial government shutdown after Dec. 21, when funding for a number of federal agencies is set to expire. | 
