Trump Delays Funding For Mexican Border Wall

It was a mixed morning for risk sentiment as news stories broke relating to the Trump administration.

Firstly, supporting investor news sentiment, White House officials commented during an address on Monday night that the President would be willing to wait until later this year before sourcing funding to build the controversial wall along the Mexican border. This is being interpreted as a move that can hopefully avoid a government shutdown on Saturday.

Previously, officials from the Trump administration as well as the President himself had suggested that they were seeking funding for the wall as part of the bill required this week to keep the government funded once its current funding runs out at 12.01am on Saturday, marking President Trump’s 100^th day in office.

The issue was raised by Trump at a reception with conservative media on Monday night at the White House. Many are hoping that the President’s compromise on this issue will allow democrats and republicans to successfully negotiate the five-month bill that must be passed this week to avoid a shutdown.The issue of funding the wall was likely going to be fiercely fought between the two parties as the Democrats had previously said that they would oppose any bill which included funding for the proposed border wall.

As the Republicans only hold 52 seats in the Senate, they will need Democratic votes also as 60 votes are needed to clear spending bills. Indeed, some Republicans are expected to oppose the spending bill, so the Trump administration is under even more pressure to gain some democratic support for the bill.

One issue which remains to be cleared is whether the spending bill will include health insurer payments, requested by the democrats, called “cost-sharing reductions”. These payments bolster Affordable Care Act insurance plans by reducing insurer costs for low-income users. An abrupt cessation of these payments would seriously threaten health care markets and could lead to claps of health plans during the year.