As the spending bill to keep the government open heads to Senate for a vote, President Donald Trump has signaled he won’t vote for it because Congress has failed to solve a problem he created.
I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2018
Less than 24 hours ago, Office of Budget and Management Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters that the president has every intention of signing the bill once it reaches his desk.
“Let’s cut right to the chase: Is the President going to sign the bill?” Mulvaney asked. “The answer is yes.”
“All things considered, in the balance, the president supports the bill, looks forward to signing it … by midnight tomorrow night.”
Trump’s change of heart may have happened after Fox & Friends ran a segment calling the bill a “swamp budget” with no funding for the border wall.
On Fox & Friends this morning, Pete Hegseth said of the omnibus, "this is a swamp budget, this is a Mitch McConnell special," savaged it because "no wall." pic.twitter.com/tTAIWj5til
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) March 23, 2018
Yesterday the White House released a statement announcing the president will back the omnibus spending bill.
“The president and the leaders discussed their support for the bill, which includes more funds to rebuild the military, such as the largest pay raise for our troops in a decade, more than 100 miles of new construction for the border wall and other key domestic priorities, like combating the opioid crisis and rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.
A White House official later added that Trump “intends to sign the bill,” calling it a “step in the right direction.”
The Trump administration, however, has proved time and time again that official statements from the White House matter very little.
In early March the White House pushed back on reports that National Security Adviser General McMaster would be ousted from the administration.
“We frequently face rumor and innuendo about senior administration officials. There are no personnel announcements at this time,” White House spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement.
Weeks later McMaster was fired along with Trump’s lead attorney John Dowd.