Trump 'will not' sign bill to keep government open without border wall funding, says Paul Ryan

Donald Trump has said he will not sign a bill to fund the government because it does not include $5bn for the border wall he wants, senior Republican Paul Ryan has said.

Mr Ryan, the outgoing speaker of the House of Representatives, spoke to reporters after the president met with Republicans.

“The president said he will not sign this bill,” said Mr Ryan, after speaking to Mr Trump at the White House.

Hours after the remarks, the Republican-controlled House voted along party lines to add $5.7bn to the stopgap spending bill, along with a nearly $8bn disaster aid package that many politicians support for coastal hurricanes and California wildfires. The House was set to vote later on the overall bill, the Associated Press said.

But Democrats said even if that bill passed the House, the Senate would not approve it. “It clearly will not come close to getting the 60 votes that it needs,” Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, told reporters.

Earlier on Thursday, it became clear that efforts to avoid to a government shutdown had hit a bump, after the White House said Mr Trump did “not want to go further”, unless he received billions of dollars for a wall.

As the president was preparing to meeting with Republicans to discuss a bill to cover federal spending, he tweeted that when he signed the last budget bill, “I was promised the wall and border security by leadership”.

“We foolishly fight for border security for other countries – but not for our beloved USA. Not good,” he said.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested the president was seeking to dig in his heels, possibly after he was widely criticised by powerful conservatives in the media such as Matt Drudge and Ann Coulter, for appearing to compromise.

The president even stopped following Coulter on Twitter after she said she would not support him if he did not secure tighter border security.

“The president is having a meeting with Republican House members at noon today,” Ms Sanders said in a statement. “At this moment, the president does not want to go further without border security, which includes steel slats or a wall. The president is continuing to weigh his options.”

The Congress faces a deadline to fund a portion of the government or risk a partial shutdown. Politicians on Capitol Hill had been at a standstill over the president’s demands for $5bn to fund the border wall.

Late on Wednesday, the Senate agreed a measure that would keep several key departments of the federal government funded until February and avert a partial shutdown. The measure passed by the Senate does provide a total of $1.6bn for border security, but does not include money for a wall. A version of that measure, is currently with the House.

The Associated Press said with the support of House Democrats headed by congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the bill probably has enough support to pass with votes mostly from Democrats, and some Republicans.