Trump not 'thrilled' with border deal but leaning toward it

WASHINGTON -- Under mounting pressure from his own party, President Donald Trump appeared to be grudgingly leaning toward accepting an agreement Tuesday to head off a threatened second government shutdown but provide just a fraction of the money he's been demanding for his Mexican border wall.

Trump said he would need more time to study the plan, but he also declared he was not expecting another shutdown this weekend when funding for parts of the government would run out. He strongly signaled he planned to scrounge up additional dollars for the wall by raiding other federal coffers to deliver on the signature promise of his presidential campaign.

"I can't say I'm happy. I can't say I'm thrilled," Trump said of the proposed deal. "But the wall is getting built, regardless. It doesn't matter because we're doing other things beyond what we're talking about here."

Accepting the deal, worked out by congressional negotiators from both parties, would be a disappointment for a president who has repeatedly insisted he needs $5.7 billion for a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying the project is paramount for national security. Trump turned down a similar deal in December, forcing the 35-day partial shutdown leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers without paychecks and Republicans reeling. There is little appetite in Washington for a repeat.

Lawmakers tentatively agreed Monday night to a deal to provide nearly $1.4 billion for border barriers and keep the government funded for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

The agreement would allow 55 miles of new fencing -- constructed using existing designs such as metal slats -- but far less than the 215 miles the White House demanded in December. The fencing would be built in Texas' Rio Grande Valley.

Full details were not expected to be released until today as lawmakers worked to translate their verbal agreement into legislation. But Republican leaders urged Trump to sign on.

"I hope he signs the bill," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who joined other GOP leaders in selling it as a necessary compromise that represented a major concession from Democrats.

Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., expressed optimism Trump would be on board.

"We believe from our dealings with them and the latitude they've given us, they will support it," he said. "We certainly hope so."