Trump threatens government shutdown over border wall


President Trump on Twitter Sunday did a stunningly good impression of a toddler throwing a tantrum as he threatened to shut down the federal government to force Congress to appropriate funds for his promised border wall construction:
In earlier tweets on the subject, Trump accused migrant parents of using their children for "sinister purposes" and quoted praise for himself from the former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Trump has reportedly said in the past he believes shutdowns can advantage him politically. His tweets come as 711 migrant children remain in federal custody after being separated from their parents at the border by the Trump administration. A court-ordered deadline to reunite the families has already passed.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Read The Week's Paul Waldman on how Trump has chosen "the dumbest political fight ever" by threatening a shutdown — and Matthew Walther on why it's an obvious choice for Trump to make.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
June 7 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include reminders that we are all going to die, and Elon Musk taking a chainsaw to the 'Big, Beautiful, Bill'
-
5 naturally disastrous editorial cartoons about FEMA
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on FEMA, the hurricane season, and the This is Fine meme
-
Amanda Feilding: the serious legacy of the 'Crackpot Countess'
In the Spotlight Nicknamed 'Lady Mindbender', eccentric aristocrat was a pioneer in the field of psychedelic research
-
Supreme Court lowers bar in discrimination cases
speed read The court ruled in favor of a white woman who claimed she lost two deserved promotions to gay employees
-
Trump-Musk relationship implodes in taunts, threats
speed read Musk said Trump's multitrillion bill would cause a recession and accused the president of involvement with Jeffrey Epstein
-
Trump hits Africa, Middle East with new travel ban
Speed Read The travel ban bars visitors from 12 countries and restricts entry from seven
-
Elon Musk slams Trump's 'pork-filled' signature bill
speed read 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong,' Musk posted on X
-
Depleted FEMA struggling as hurricane season begins
speed read FEMA has lost a third of its workforce amid DOGE cuts enforced by President Donald Trump
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain