--- title: Trump Got $1.6 Billion For Border Security. He Says It Isn't Enough description: Donald Trump publicly griped over a congressional spending package that includes just a fraction of the money he wanted for border security. canonical: https://time.com/5210780/congress-omnibus-border-security-wall-donald-trump/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-22T16:10:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:44:21.815Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Wanted $25 Billion for a Border Wall. Congress Gave Him a Fence Instead og:description: He griped publicly about the bill but is expected to sign it. og:url: https://time.com/5210780/congress-omnibus-border-security-wall-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbcaa25467ff16023/69892b9b929fad63e3bf00b5/gettyimages-935866312.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4969 og:image:height: 2795 og:image:alt: US-WEATHER-STORM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Wanted $25 Billion for a Border Wall. Congress Gave Him a Fence Instead twitter:description: He griped publicly about the bill but is expected to sign it. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbcaa25467ff16023/69892b9b929fad63e3bf00b5/gettyimages-935866312.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Wanted $25 Billion for a Border Wall. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Mar 22, 2018 4:10 PM UTC  Snow falls at the US Capitol during a snow storm in Washington, DC, March 21, 2018. Snow falls at the US Capitol during a snow storm in Washington, DC, March 21, 2018. Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Mar 22, 2018 4:10 PM UTC President Donald Trump publicly griped over a congressional spending package that includes just a fraction of the money he wanted for border security, arguing that “the rest will be forthcoming.” As part of a [massive omnibus spending package](http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20180319/BILLS-115SAHR1625-RCP115-66.pdf) on track to be approved, Congress is expected to approve just shy of $1.6 billion for border security, of which only $38 million can be spent on “border barrier planning and design.” Trump had called for $25 billion to build a wall on the border of Mexico, but the bill allocates funds primarily for “pedestrian fencing,” leading Trump to tweet angrily that he had to “waste money” on Democratic “giveaways” to get the bill passed. (The package includes $591 billion in non-defense spending on such things as childcare development and efforts to combat the opioid crisis.) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/976654851684945920) As of Thursday morning, Congress has just more than 36 hours to pass the $1.3 trillion spending package — a massive, 2,232-page [document](http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20180319/BILLS-115SAHR1625-RCP115-66.pdf) that lawmakers only first saw on Wednesday night. Though the White House has said publicly that the president supports the package following meetings with Republican leadership on Wednesday, senior aides told [_The Atlantic_](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/omnibus/556163/)that he was irate. He is not alone, either. Conservative members of his own party, particularly in the House of Representatives, were quick to lash out against the bill, bemoaning the magnitude of the package and the haste with which they were expected to pass it. “We’re opposed — spending levels way too high, no real border funding, no real conservative wins,” one aide to a prominent House conservative told TIME. Democratic leaders praised the bill, however. “Every bill takes compromise, and there was plenty here, but at the end of the day we Democrats feel very good because so many of our priorities for the middle class were included,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “From opioid funding to rural broadband, and from student loans to child care, this bill puts workers and families first.” The bill also includes a provision endorsed by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, that will fortify the background check system used in firearms purchases and prompt states to report information from this system to the federal database. The House is expected to vote on the bill on Thursday afternoon, before leaving town for the two-week Easter recess. 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