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Trump threatens years-long shutdown, says he could call national emergency to build wall

Washington • President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a years-long shutdown of the federal government to get the money he wants for his U.S.-Mexico border wall, even as he asserted that he could declare a national emergency to build the wall if he chose to.

"We can do it. I haven't done it. I may do it. I may do it," Trump said of the possibility of declaring a national emergency to build the wall.

The president’s comments came during a lengthy Rose Garden news conference that followed a meeting with top Democratic and Republican congressional leaders as the partial government shutdown neared its two-week mark.