Trump dislikes border security deal but Republicans urge support

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was not happy with a deal struck by congressional negotiators on border security that denied him funds for his promised US-Mexican border wall, but did not reject it outright as fellow Republicans urged his support.

Trump's demand in December for $5.7 billion from Congress to help build a wall on the southern border triggered a 35-day closure of about a quarter of the federal government. But he remains undecided about whether he will support the agreement reached on Monday night that includes $1.37 billion for border fencing.

Nevertheless, Trump said he did not expect another shutdown, while continuing to insist he could find a way to bypass Congress and build a wall without lawmakers.

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department and a host of other agencies is due to expire when the calendar turns to Saturday after the expiration of a stopgap measure that ended the longest federal shutdown in US history. Monday's tentative funding agreement would keep the government open until Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year.

"I have to study it. I'm not happy about it," Trump told reporters at the White House about the deal, which would need to be passed by the Democratic-led House of Representatives and Republican-controlled Senate and signed by him.

The House could vote late on Wednesday at the earliest, according to a senior aide. Congress must pass the measure by Friday's midnight deadline.