10 things you need to know today: December 29, 2018

Trump threatens to close border as shutdown fight continues, EPA moves to weaken mercury regulations, and more

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump
(Image credit: Saul Loeb/Getty Images)

1. Trump threatens to close border as shutdown fight continues

President Trump threatened on Twitter Friday to close the southern border entirely if congressional Democrats do not approve the border wall funding he has demanded as a condition for ending the partial government shutdown. Incoming White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney subsequently suggested Trump is willing to accept less than the $5.7 billion he has requested, saying Democrats have been offered an unspecified lower figure. No progress is likely to be made until at least Jan. 3, when Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives and are expected to introduce a stopgap spending bill without wall funding.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.