Trump made his pitch for his border wall by citing Obama's house, the Vatican, Nancy Pelosi's Catholicism

President Trump hosted congressional leaders for what was, by all accounts, a fruitless meeting on Wednesday afternoon. And as the partial government shutdown enters its 13th day, the negotiation positions are becoming entrenched: Trump says he won't accept less than $5.6 billion for his border wall and won't sign a bill to open other parts of the government without that money, presumptive House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says Democrats' ceiling is $1.3 billion for border security and fence repair, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insists he won't entertain overriding Trump's veto to reopen the government.

In the meeting, held in the White House Situation Room, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) asked Trump several times why he won't open non-wall parts of the government, and Trump reportedly replied, "I would look foolish if I did that." Trump also spent several minutes Wednesday making a case for his physical wall.

"Walls work," Trump said at a Cabinet meeting earlier Wednesday, repeating a false claim that former President Barack Obama has a 10-foot wall "around his compound" in Washington. ("Parts of Mr. Obama's home in the northwest section of the city are bordered by a low brick retaining wall, and others have iron or chain-link fencing," The New York Times notes.) He also argued that walls are moral by pointing to the Vatican, which he said "has the biggest wall of them all."

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Later, in the Situation Room, "Trump tried creative ways to persuade the Democrats that they should support his wall," the Times reports. "At one point, he said Ms. Pelosi should back it because she was 'a good Catholic' and Vatican City is surrounded by a wall." Pelosi gave her Michael Corleone-like reply to NBC's Savannah Guthrie: "Nothing for the wall." McConnell, after the meeting, defined down "hope," telling reporters: "We're hopeful that, somehow, in the coming days and weeks, we'll be able to reach an agreement."