If Anti-Immigrant Wish List Not Accepted, Trump Says, 'I'd Love to See a Shutdown'

President Donald Trump—who has repeatedly wailed about how "devastating" a government shutdown would be to "our military" and federal employees—said during an immigration roundtable on Tuesday that he would "love to see a shutdown" if Democrats refuse to accept his expansive anti-immigrant wish list.

After a lengthy rant about MS-13, "loopholes where killers are allowed to come into our country," and the "many gang members that we don't even mention," Trump proclaimed: "If we don't change it, let's have a shutdown. We'll do a shutdown. And it's worth it for our country. I'd love to see a shutdown if we don't get this stuff taken care of."

"If we have to shut it down because the Democrats don’t want safety—and unrelated but still related, they don't want to take care of our military—then shut it down, we'll go with another shutdown," Trump added.

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“I'd love to see a shutdown if we don't get this stuff taken care of,” Trump says regarding immigration policies. “The world is laughing at us because they can't believe these policies.” pic.twitter.com/sjqGt101Ab

— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) February 6, 2018

Democrats were quick to respond to Trump's remarks.

"President Trump wants a government shutdown because he's 'too lazy' to negotiate," Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) wrote on Twitter, alluding to White House chief of staff John Kelly's claim earlier Tuesday that many undocumented immigrants were "too lazy" to sign up for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program Trump ended last year.

Asked by a reporter for his response to Trump's comments, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, "Speaks for itself."

"We had one Trump shutdown. Nobody wants another, maybe except him," Schumer added.

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