Waffles...

Trump waffles on forcing December fight over border wall funding

By JENNIFER SCHOLTES and SARAH FERRIS

President Donald Trump said three times this afternoon that he must now decide whether to push for more funding for the border wall in December — toning down a threat he previously espoused with certainty.

"I've got a big decision to make after the election as to whether or not we go for it," Trump said during a news conference at the White House.

The president has for months been throwing around the idea of forcing a government shutdown to get Congress to allocate more cash to one of his main campaign promises and said less than a month ago that "we'll do it right after the election."

But Trump didn't use the word "shutdown" in that context today and indicated that he hasn't made up his mind about forcing the issue when funding for the Department of Homeland Security and several other federal agencies runs out on Dec. 7. Fiscal 2019 began today.

"So we are going to have a decision to make sometime right after, very close to after the election is over. And that is on border security and the wall — but border security. The wall is a big factor," the president said.

Trump noted that additional funding for the border wall was just signed into law last week, adding to the $1.6 billion already allocated.

"We're doing a lot of work people don't realize," he said. "I don't really want to talk about it because I could build it quickly at one time, which is what I want. But we've been building it over the last year and a half."