President Trump briefly spoke with reporters on Christmas Day.
President Trump on Tuesday weighed in on the partial government shutdown.
"I can't tell you when the government is going to open," Trump told reporters. "I can tell you it's not going to be open until we have a wall or fence, whatever they'd like to call it. I'll call it whatever they want, but it's all the same thing. It's a barrier from people pouring into our country from drugs. It's a barrier from drugs."
White House budget director Mick Mulvaney has indicated that the partial government shutdown that went into effect early Saturday will likely not be over soon, telling Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace, "It's very possible that this shutdown will go beyond the 28th and into the new Congress."
The Senate has adjourned for the holidays and is expected to reopen on Thursday, December 27.
The next Congress--which will see a Democratic majority in the House--is set to begin on January 3.
Mulvaney also defended the chaos the shutdown has caused, saying, "This is what Washington looks like when you have a president who refuses to sort of go along to get along. You're seeing a fight over border security."
The partial government shutdown began after lawmakers could not agree on a budget given the president's demand for $5 billion in border wall funding.
