The Chamber of Commerce has just officially responded to President Trump’s threat the shut down the government if it refuses to build his border wall with Mexico.
Neil Bradley, the senior vice president and chief policy officer for the Chamber of Commerce, offered Trump some advice on that:
“My experience has been whoever tries to hold government funding hostage to get something – it’s usually not a strategy that has historically worked out very well,” Bradley said.
“So it seems to me there are probably better ways for the president to get his priority of a border wall done than threatening a government shutdown.”
Bradley made his comments while speaking with C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers,” the entire interview which is set to be aired on Sunday.
Trump initially made the threat while giving a speech at a campaign rally in Phoenix on Tuesday.
“Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall. One way or the other, we’re going to get that wall.”
A senior administration official in Trump’s White House told NBC News that Trump was “serious” and those weren’t just off-the-mark comments he made trying to receive applause.
Kellyanne Conway also backed up Trump’s remarks:
“Anybody who’s surprised by that has not been paying attention for over two years,” Conway said. “So he’s telling Congress he’s building the wall, he expects the funding, and it’s up to them to work collaboratively. We hope they do.”
If Trump and Republicans don’t reach a consensus, the government could shut down as soon as Sept 30.
What’s funny about Trump’s threat, as rightly pointed out on MSNBC, is that Trump has switched from threatening Mexico to pay for the wall, to threatening the United States Congress and the American people that they will pay for the wall.
