Trump to Congress: Fund My Dumb Wall or I’ll Shut Down the Government

President Donald Trump thinks his wall is so important that he’ll shut down the government to get the money for it.

In a rally with supporters in Phoenix, Ariz., on Tuesday, he declared: “If we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall.” He went on to say that immigration control is the reason the American people elected him. The president’s administration is hoping for over three billion dollars to be allocated for the wall alone. Congress has yet to allocate any.

This isn’t the first time Trump has threatened to shut down the government in an effort to force Congress to do what he wants, like a child threatening to overturn the whole Monopoly board because the banker won’t just give him more money for no reason.

This only widens an already substantial rift between Trump and Congress, which, need we remind you, is primarily made up of his own party. It follows a feud with Mitch McConnell and attacks on Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona.

If a new spending bill isn’t approved, the government will run out of money on Oct. 1 and be forced to shut down. Yet Trump continues to ask for more money for an “immoral, ineffective and expensive border wall,” in the words of Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California. A budget showdown looms, and by the time October rolls around, either the Republicans or Trump will have to give up some ground.