Republican Representative for New York's 2nd Congressional District Peter King has said it is unlikely Democratic lawmakers will agree to a compromise with Donald Trump on border wall funding.
"It's really unfortunate that we can't get a compromise. The president has offered a compromise and the Democrats are refusing to go there," King said in an interview on the Cats Roundtable radio show.
READ MORE: Backing for US Border Wall Hits Record High Among Republicans — Poll
He explained that the Democrats' reluctance to strike a deal and put an end to the ongoing US government shutdown stems from the influence of "extreme left-wing" politicians who are afraid of giving in to Donald Trump.
"Any compromise with President Trump is going to look like a surrender. And Nancy Pelosi made it very difficult when she said that a wall is amoral.
"It's easy to make a deal," he went on, "but the fear is, among the Democratic leadership, [that] if they make any agreement with President Trump, it's like compromising with the devil. They are the most extreme, left-wing progressive element now in their party. And it has a disproportionate influence on the party. And it's really at a time to say no to the progressive left wing."
Donald Trump on Saturday came up with a deal which he said would end the lapse in government funding that has left some 800,000 federal employees furloughed or working without pay.
He proposed to extend protective measures for nearly 700,000 young undocumented immigrants who are currently allowed to live and work in the United States under the Obama-initiated DACA programme, and shield another 300,000 immigrants from Central American and African countries from deportation from the US.
In exchange, he asked for $5.7 billion for building sections of a "see-through wall" on the Mexico border — a request which Congressional Democrats earlier rejected. Additionally, he demanded more funds for "urgent humanitarian aid" and tackling drug smuggling, as well as more border agents and law enforcement professionals.
A slew of senior figures in the Democratic Party, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have again rejected to grant Trump the funding he wants for the wall, insisting that no negotiations can take place until he re-opens the government.
