US President Donald Trump has signaled willingness to postpone his planned wall on the border with Mexico to prevent a government shutdown.
Trump told conservative media outlets in a private meeting on Monday that he might put the plan on hold until Republicans draft a budget blueprint for the fiscal year that begins on October 1.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Congress have been negotiating a short-term extension of the existing spending levels through September to avoid a government shutdown when the current spending bill ends on Friday.
Democrats say they would only agree with the extension if Trump withdraws the wall funding.
The Trump White House has asked for $1.4 billion as a down payment for the roughly $20 billion project, a request that has been met with strong bipartisan opposition in Congress.
According to internal estimates by the US Department of Homeland Security, the total cost of the border barrier would stand at about $21.6…