NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
President Donald Trump on Monday blamed Democrats for the partial government shutdown, as Republicans and Democrats have yet to reach an agreement on funding the Department of Homeland Security, while also touting what he saw as victories for his administration on issues such as the economy and crime.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump boasted of “big financial numbers,” such as low inflation and falling fuel prices.
“Excellent financial numbers, you saw low inflation, very low inflation. Prices are low. Very low. Gasoline is less than $2 a gallon in many places, something no one expected to see,” Trump said, although the national average for gasoline is closer to $3 and state averages in areas with the cheapest fuel still remain above $2.
DHS SHUTDOWN CLOSES AS JOHNSON NAVIGATS GOP DIVISION ON INTERIM SOLUTIONS
President Donald Trump speaks to the media aboard Air Force One while flying to Washington, D.C. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
“But I did it with the initial expression of drill, baby, drill. Prices are falling very sharply. And as happens with gasoline, oil and gas, so do the rest of the other products that are high… We inherited a disaster and we have recovered our country,” he continued.
When asked about the partial shutdown over DHS funding, Trump said it is a “Democratic shutdown” that “has nothing to do with Republicans,” accusing Democrats of being upset about falling crime numbers, something he took credit for even as data shows murders and other violent crimes had been declining in major cities before his return to the White House.
“This is a Democratic shutdown. This has nothing to do with Republicans, and Democrats are shutdown. They’re upset that the crime numbers are so good. They’re very unhappy that there’s a movement,” he said.
Republicans and Democrats have yet to reach an agreement on funding the Department of Homeland Security to end the partial government shutdown. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Democrats have demanded stricter oversight and reforms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the shooting deaths last month of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis.
“They don’t want voter ID because they want to cheat in elections,” the president added, referring to the House-passed Safeguarding the Eligibility of American Voters (SAVE) Act that would impose stricter requirements in federal elections for voters to prove their citizenship through photo identification and other documentation such as a passport or birth certificate, a measure that Democrats have resisted including in long-term funding bills.
“They don’t want mail-in ballots. They want to end mail-in ballots, and one other thing they [Republicans] They insist on proof of citizenship. And Democrats don’t want to give proof of citizenship. They don’t want to give voter identification,” he added.
PARTIAL SHUTDOWN EXTENDS AS DHS FUNDING TALKS STALK
President Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the partial government shutdown. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Still, Trump said he is willing to meet with Democrats to discuss a plan to end the shutdown, but stressed that “we have to protect our law enforcement” and that immigration agents have “done a great job” in removing the “criminals that were brought in.”
The president also said he would still give his State of the Union address scheduled for next week if there is still a shutdown.