his hard line stance on illegal immigration. you know, i don t make it a habit to respond to rumors passed on by reporters. reporter: it wasn t a rumor. it was the president of the united states. you re welcome to testify and give your own views. i m going to wait until i see specific legislative proposals to comment on them and not chase down every press room of people reporter: what about the idea of giving legal status on illegal immigrants, are you open to that? my idea is we need to secure the border. i don t support amnesty. reporter: trump is trying to deliver on a central campaign promise, to build the wall paid for fully by mexico. we will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border. reporter: but the billions of dollars that congress will first have to approve have given some republicans pause. we ve got to find some way to pay for it. we can t just continue to add debt. reporter: and some influential republicans question
relieve debt. and sometimes if your only approach is cutting spending at a time when the economy is contracting, then the economy will contract further and that can add debt. now, the advantage we had is that the dollar is a reserve currency to the world. even in the midst of crisis, people were still buying u.s. treasury bills. we were not part of a broader arrangement like the eurozone. so it gave us some additional flexibility. but the key lesson that we ve drawn from our experience, and it s true that we recovered faster and better, frankly, than most of europe. is that particularly when the economy is still struggling,
leave debt. and sometimes if your only approach is cutting spending at a time when the economy s contracting, then the economy will contract further and that can add debt. now the advantage we had is that the dollar is the reserve currency of the world. even in the midst of crisis people were still buying u.s. treasury bills. we were not part of a broader arrangement like the eurozone so it gave us some additional flexibility, but the key lesson that we ve drawn from our experience, and it s true that we recovered faster and better, frankly, than most of europe is that particularly when the economy is still struggling,
willing to talk today. we re coming there with an idea of getting there, to deal with these economic drivers that harm the economy. the drivers that continue to add debt. so when we make an offer today for a temporary extension, we re looking for a structure that puts us on a path to get a budget, to take care of the debt and move this economy in a stronger position and have all americans win. a little common sense for the rest of the country. and i ll take a couple of questions. there you go. what do you need in order to reopen the full government? that s a conversation we re going to have with the president today. i don t want to put anything on the table. i don t want to take anything off the table. that s why we want to have this conversation. prevent us from being in the exact same
of working together. we re coming there to find common ground. to find common ground that will deal with these economic drivers that harm the economy. the drivers that continue to add debt. so when we make an offer today for a temporary extension, we re looking for a structure that puts us on a path to get a budget, to take care of the debt, and move this economy in a stronger position and have all americans win. a little common sense for the rest of the country. i ll take a couple of questions. mr. speaker, now that you re undertaking this plan on the debt ceiling, what do you need in order to reopen the full government? that s a conversation that we re going to have with the president today. and i don t want to put anything on the table. i don t want to take anything off the table. that s why we want to have this conversation. mr. speaker, what is the disagreement that will prevent us from being in the exact same place? clearly you could end up back