"They don't want the wall but we're going to get the wall, even if we have to think about closing up the country for a while," CNN quoted Trump
Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump has floated a new idea about border security, saying that people might "have to think about closing up the country", the media reported.
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"They don't want the wall but we're going to get the wall, even if we have to think about closing up the country for a while," CNN quoted Trump as saying during a tax reform roundtable in Ohio on Saturday.
"We're going to get the wall. We have no choice. We have absolutely no choice. And we're going to get tremendous security in our country.
"And we may have to close up our country to get this straight because we either have a country or we don't. And you can't allow people to pour into our country the way they're doing," he added.
It was not immediately clear what Trump meant by the remarks. The White House has not commented.
Indian origin Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal told CNN on Saturday that Trump "is absolutely out of his mind to think that is any kind of a reasonable solution for our economy or compassionate or in line with our values.
"This President has done everything he can every time he's in trouble to turn around and try to turn it against immigrants, and it really deeply saddens me," Jayapal said.
During the roundtable, the President sharply criticised Democrats, including Ohio's Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, for their opposition to a border wall.
Trump has escalated his rhetoric against illegal immigration, especially in the wake of an annual migrant caravan that is seeking asylum in the US.
He has also ordered the National Guard to deploy troops to the border to address what the administration calls a "crisis" there.
Trump also told supporters at a speech in Michigan last weekend that if Congress did not meet his funding demands for border security, he may support a government shutdown this winter.
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