Trump to make announcement Saturday on shutdown
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he will make a major announcement on the government shutdown and the southern border on Saturday afternoon from the White House.
I will be making a major announcement concerning the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border, and the Shutdown, tomorrow afternoon at 3 P.M., live from the @WhiteHouse.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2019
Trump and Democrats in Congress remain far apart over Trump's insistence on funding for a wall along the Mexican border as the price of reopening the government.
The two sides have traded taunts and avoided talks so far this week. Trump says the announcement will take place at 3 p.m. He says the announcement involves "the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border."
The political stakes are high as the shutdown moves into a fifth week, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers going without pay and no outward signs of resolution.
12:30 p.m.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is accusing the White House of leaking information about her planned congressional trip to Afghanistan and saying it's "very irresponsible on the part of the president."
Pelosi's comments Friday came after President Donald Trump canceled the military plane that was to have carried a congressional delegation to Afghanistan on the previously undisclosed troop visit. Trump suggested she travel by commercial plane instead.
Pelosi said she planned to do just that but was thwarted after "the administration leaked that we were traveling commercially." She says the State Department reported "the president outing" the original trip made the scene on the ground in Afghanistan "more dangerous because it's a signal to the bad actors that we're coming."
The White House has denied leaking Pelosi's backup plan to fly commercially and says it leaked nothing that would cause a security risk.
Pelosi and Trump are at an impasse over funding Trump wants for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. The partial government shutdown has reached its 28th day.
11:30 a.m.
The White House is denying that it leaked Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (puh-LOH'-seez) backup plan to fly to Afghanistan commercially after President Donald Trump grounded her Air Force jet.
A White House official speaking Friday on the condition of anonymity to address Pelosi's charge said it didn't leak her plan.
Trump revealed the previously secret trip publicly on Thursday and denied Pelosi the use of a military plane for the trip.
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill says she and accompanying lawmakers were prepared to take a commercial flight but canceled after the State Department warned that publicity over the visit had "significantly increased the danger to the delegation and to the troops, security, and other officials supporting the trip."
Pelosi and Trump are at an impasse over funding Trump wants for a U.S.-Mexico border wall, which Pelosi opposes. The partial government shutdown has reached its 28th day.