--- title: Donald Trump's Sniping Hurts Bipartisan Border Group description: President Donald Trump's persistent sniping is hurting negotiations to find a bipartisan compromise on border security. canonical: https://time.com/5519543/donald-trump-shutdown-border-security-emergency-declaration/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-04T18:14:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:57.556Z article:section: Politics og:title: How President Trump's Sniping Is Hurting Bipartisan Border Talks og:description: Even within the Republican Party, the President’s comments pose a stumbling block. og:url: https://time.com/5519543/donald-trump-shutdown-border-security-emergency-declaration/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64bb4c04ed4cecd4/69894455457a5261fad6069f/trump-intelligence-chiefs-reversal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump Meets With China's Vice Premier Liu He At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How President Trump's Sniping Is Hurting Bipartisan Border Talks twitter:description: Even within the Republican Party, the President’s comments pose a stumbling block. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64bb4c04ed4cecd4/69894455457a5261fad6069f/trump-intelligence-chiefs-reversal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How President Trump's Sniping Is Hurting Bipartisan Border Talks > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=2a83eef1-319a-49cf-b901-17dd2fa04430&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How Trump Is Changing the State of the Union Address [Watch (HLS stream): How Trump Is Changing the State of the Union Address](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pZB9voVg.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2019-01-31. How President Trump is changing the State of the Union address._  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Feb 4, 2019 6:14 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval Office at the White House on January 31, 2019 in Washington, D.C., the same day he met with his intelligence chiefs U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval Office at the White House on January 31, 2019 in Washington, D.C., the same day he met with his intelligence chiefs Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Feb 4, 2019 6:14 PM UTC President Donald Trump has made no secret of the fact that he thinks lawmakers are wasting their time trying to come up with a funding solution for border security. But the 17 members of Congress tasked with reaching that compromise are just trying to forge ahead. Staffers worked over the weekend to hammer out a deal. A subset of members are making several stops at the southern border to glean more information to aid them in writing legislation. But while members of the committee are still expressing optimism they can work something out, there is a sense, even within the Republican Party, that the President’s comments pose a stumbling block, and that he is trying to control an appropriations process he doesn’t understand. One Republican aide, requesting anonymity to speak more candidly, described the comments “frustrating,” acknowledging that they do not help anything. Nevertheless, Republican Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, who is on the committee, said members have started by laying the groundwork and honing in on areas where they have the biggest differences. “There are some major sticking points,” Fleischmann conceded, “but lets hope we can get it done.” But in comments preceding and following the group’s first meeting on Jan. 30, Trump said that the members were “wasting their time,” insinuating that he would ultimately declare a national emergency if he did not receive his requisite $5.7 billion in funding for a wall. “I’ve set the stage for doing what I’m going to do,” Trump [told the New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/us/politics/trump-interview-transcripts.html), when asked about declaring a national emergency in order to build the wall by executive fiat. To make things even more difficult, Trump is set to [give the State of the Union](http://time.com/5517885/trump-state-of-the-union-unity/) on Tuesday, a very public opportunity for him to scramble negotiations further with more threats, red lines or, as some have speculated, a public announcement that he will declare an emergency. The conference committee has until Feb. 10 at the absolute latest to file a bill that would avert another shutdown. No meetings have been scheduled, and it is unlikely anything will happen before Tuesday. Republicans remain adamantly opposed to both another shutdown and President Trump declaring a national emergency. “I’m for whatever works, which means avoiding a shutdown and avoiding the president feeling he should declare a national emergency,” Senate Majority Leader McConnell said last week. But as the deadline inches closer, the President continues to float this possibility. “I don’t like to take things off the table,” he told CBS News Feb. 3\. “It’s that alternative. It’s national emergency, it’s other things and you know there have been plenty national emergencies called.” The leading lawmakers on the committee have remained typically diplomatic, navigating the oft-seen tightrope of pushing for autonomy while avoiding confrontation with the White House. “It could hurt, but it could also help, because a lot of us are going to do everything we can to try to make this work, to get to yes, to avoid another shutdown” Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, who is helping to lead the negotiations, said Sunday on [CNN’s “State of The Union”](http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1902/03/sotu.01.html) when asked about the President’s comments. Shelby was quick, however, to urge the President to let the lawmakers do their jobs. “If people leave us alone … if the four of us \[the top appropriations lawmakers in both chambers\] could get together. Tasked by our respective caucuses, we will get this done before Wednesday night.” Nevertheless, Congressional aides are insisting that the President’s rhetoric is not actually impacting the negotiations, which continue to hum along, despite the palpable frustration on both sides of the aisle. “We’re keeping our head down and working,” said one Democratic aide. “What the President is saying is just a chyron on a muted TV.” ## Transcript The State of the Union typically gets less interesting each year a President is in office, but Donald Trump may have found a way to change that. Under other administrations, Presidential addresses to Congress start out exciting. After all, it's a new President speaking to lawmakers directly. The President shall give to Congress information About the state of our union After the novelty wears off it becomes rather routine the President [ UNKNOWN ] An agenda that everyone is familiar with We will soon begin the construction of a great great wall along our Southern border Law makers applaud among party lines [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] > And the State of the Union is always strong. Ladies and gentlemen, the state of our union- And the state of the union- The state of our union- Is strong. Is strong. Is strong. Is confident and strong. But this year's drama over the longest government shutdown in history, has added an element of uncertainty. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to disinvite Trump turned the speech into a hot potato. Since government is shut down, let's work together for a mutually agreeable date. The State of the Union speech has been Cancelled by Nancy Pelosi because she doesn't want to hear the truth. And Trump's address will come even as lawmakers are trying to stave off yet another shutdown. . In a short while, I will sign a bill to open our government for three weeks until February 15th. The speech won't be much more exciting than usual. But the fight around it has added a bit of reality TV drama. If there's anyone who knows how to make reality TV work, it's Donald Trump. 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