The White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney recently made an appearance on Fox News Sunday and emphasized how serious President Trump is on making the border wall a reality.

As you already know, the shutdown just ended after Congress agreed to a three-week spending bill that expires on February 15, 2019.

If there is no agreement to funding the wall, the President is prepared to take whatever means necessary to make it happen.

Fox News reports,

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney strongly suggested on “Fox News Sunday” that President Trump will construct a border wall using his emergency powers if Congress cannot agree on a compromise to fund the construction in the next three weeks.

Trump on Friday signed a short-term spending bill to re-open the government through Feb. 15, ending the longest partial federal government shutdown in U.S. history. But the president insisted the move was not a “concession,” writing in a tweet that “in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races!” — a message Mulvaney emphasized.

Mulvaney went on to say in the interview on Fox News Sunday,

“We don’t go into this trying to shut the government down. … It’s still better to get it through legislation. That’s the right way to do it. At the end of the day, the president is going to secure the border, one way or another.”

“At the end of the day, the president’s commitment is to protect the nation, and he’ll do it either with or without Congress.”

“Why [Trump] did what he did was because many Democrats had come to us, some privately, many of them spoke out publically, but they actually started to agree with him on the necessity for a barrier on the southern border,” Mulvaney told Roberts. “And they had come to us and said ‘Look, we agree with you, you’re winning the battle on the importance of a barrier on the southern border. But we simply cannot work with you while the government is open [he meant closed and corrected it].'”

“That’s a marked difference – excuse me, while the government was closed – that’s a marked difference from where the Democrat leadership was. They said they wouldn’t talk to us about border security ever. Nancy Pelosi famously said that even if we opened the government, she wouldn’t give us a single dollar for the wall. So I think the president saw a chance here to try and take the Democrats at their word.”

Mulvaney also went on to say,

“I think the President wants his $5.7 billion,” Mulvaney said. “Keep in mind – why is that number? It’s not a number that’s made up. It’s what the experts have told him. He’s listened to DHS. I’ve been in on the meetings. He’s listened to CBP [Customs and Border Patrol], he’s listened to ICE.”

You can watch the full interview below.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore