Tweet with a location 
 
 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says she will not trade with President Donald Trump for his border wall, calling it a "manhood issue" for him. (Photo By Sarah Silbiger/CQ Roll Call file photo) 
 
 House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday there is nothing she would trade for President Donald Trump’s border wall, setting a hard negotiating stance in advance of an expected December showdown over the issue. 
 
 “It happens to be like a manhood issue for the president, building a wall, and I’m not interested in that,” the California Democrat said during a discussion at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. 
 
 Pelosi emphasized Democrats do support border security but they would prefer to look at strengthening existing security measures as part of a comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws. 
 
 “We can’t allow him to say we’re not interested in protecting the border,” Pelosi said of Trump’s frequent attack on Democrats for their refusal to support the wall. “That isn’t the only way to protect the border. In fact, it’s probably the worst way to protect the border.” 
 
 Trump is itching for a fight over border wall funding, and GOP leaders who convinced him to defer that battle until after the midterm election have said they’re prepared to push for the wall in December appropriations negotiations. 
 
 Seven of the 12 annual appropriations bills, including the Department of Homeland Security spending bill where any wall funding would be appropriated, are operating a continuing resolution that expires Dec. 7. The other five bills were signed into law before the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year. 
 
 Pelosi’s stance on the wall likely won’t matter much in the House, where Republicans during the lame duck session should have enough votes on their side to pass the $5 billion Trump requested for the wall for fiscal 2019. 
 
 Senate Democrats will be the real obstacle to Trump securing wall funding during the lame duck, but Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer has not ruled out negotiating over it. 
 
 If the appropriations negotiations get deferred into the next Congress, then Pelosi could have more leverage if Democrats win the House majority in November. 
 
 “I think if the election were today we would win the majority … wave or tsunami, we’ll see in three weeks,” Pelosi said. 
 
 Asked about working with Trump if Democrats are in the majority and whether she could believe anything he tells her, Pelosi paused before answering. 
 
 “It’s an interesting dynamic when you have the gavel,” she said. “It just makes all the difference in the world in the leverage you have in your conversation.” 
 
 ‘What I thrive on′ 
 
 Pelosi also continued to project confidence about being elected speaker if Democrats win the majority but said that’s the furthest issue from her mind at the moment. 
 
 Pelosi said she’s expecting to be challenged for her leadership position as she has in the past and is ready for it. 
 
 “None of that frightens me,” she said. “It’s what I anticipate, what I expect and what I thrive on.” 
 
 Most of Pelosi’s comments during the Harvard politics discussion were ones that have become familiar tunes of late. 
 
 She talked about Democrats’ top priorities for next year if they’re in the majority, like lowering health care costs, increasing paychecks and improving on the nation’s green infrastructure. 
 
 The specifics of the agenda will be built out by the consensus of the Democratic members, she said, but noted there already seems to be agreement among incumbents and candidates about what the first bill should be. 
 
 “One thing I’m hearing from all of them, which is music to my ears, is that they really do want campaign finance reform to be HR 1, the first resolution of the new Congress,” she said. 
 
 Other legislative issues she said Democrats plan to act quickly on are gun control and protecting so-called Dreamers, young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. 
 
 Regarding the House’s oversight responsibilities, Pelosi reiterated her view that impeachment is divisive. 
 
 “That isn’t a path I want to go down,” she said. 
 
 But Pelosi made clear that Democrats will take seriously their responsibility to hold Trump and his administration accountable. 
 
 “I’ve asked my committee chairs to be prepared, but not everything is on par with everything else,” she said, calling for a thoughtful approach to oversight — “not scattershot.” ||||| ....In addition to stopping all payments to these countries, which seem to have almost no control over their population, I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught - and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!.. ||||| ....The assault on our country at our Southern Border, including the Criminal elements and DRUGS pouring in, is far more important to me, as President, than Trade or the USMCA. Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border. All Democrats fault for weak laws! ||||| Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. 
 
 The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: 
 
 We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking “I agree” below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service.
– President Trump said Thursday that he's ready to send the US military to the border to keep a caravan of mostly Honduran migrants out. In a series of tweets, Trump also reiterated threats to withhold financial aid to Central American nations, with particular attention to Mexico. "I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught — and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!" the president wrote. He said border security surpassed any other issue in importance for him, including trade and the newly reformulated NAFTA pact known as USMCA. Trump also asserted that the caravan of immigrants includes "MANY CRIMINALS." The Washington Post suggests that Trump is especially irked because more immigrant parents than ever are reaching the border with children since the US stopped its policy of family separations over the summer. Border Patrol arrested nearly 17,000 family members in September, a record number that's up 80% from July. Trump has previously said he wants to beef up the military's presence along the border until a wall is in place, and he again faulted Democrats on the issue of immigration. "All Democrats fault for weak laws!" he wrote. But comments this week from Nancy Pelosi suggest her party won't be budging on the solution he wants most. "It happens to be like a manhood issue for the president, building a wall, and I'm not interested in that,” she said, per Roll Call.