Trump hints shutdown could be a ‘long stay’

President Donald Trump hinted Saturday that the third government shutdown of 2018 could be longer than anticipated as he and congressional leaders continue to try to find an agreement on funding one-fourth of the federal government while also paying for some of Trump’s long-proposed border wall.

“We are negotiating with the Democrats on desperately needed Border Security (Gangs, Drugs, Human Trafficking & more) but it could be a long stay,” the president wrote on Twitter.

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Trump’s comments that it could be a “long stay” contrasted with a video he posted on Twitter on Friday night, where he said, “Hopefully the shutdown will not last long.”

Congressional leaders and the president appeared to have a deal to keep roughly 25 percent of the federal government open earlier this week, but Trump reneged on the apparent agreement in search of more money for his border wall, a key campaign promise.

House Republicans, at his urging, later passed a funding bill with $5 billion towards the wall, but fellow Republicans, like Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), view the proposal as a non-starter given that it would need 60 votes to pass in the Senate and that would require the support of at least nine Democrats.

In the meantime, federal agencies ranging from the Agriculture Department and FDA to the Homeland Security and Justice Departments have begun implementing their shutdown plans that is estimated to affect roughly 800,000 federal employee. Hundreds of thousands of workers could face furloughs over Christmas week.

Trump added in a later tweet that he will be “Will be having lunch in White House residence with large group concerning Border Security.”