VIDEO: President clashes with Pelosi, Schumer on border wall

Meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday in an effort to avoid a government shutdown, President Trump, the incoming speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., engaged in a contentious exchange over funding the border wall.

In front of reporters and TV cameras, tensions rose when Pelosi threatened a "Trump shutdown" if Democrats and Republicans couldn't agree on a budget.

Trump said he would be "proud" to shut down the government for the sake of border security.

"If we don't get what we want," Trump said. "I will shut down the government."

When Pelosi argued Trump had the power to pass a budget — with Republicans in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress — the president pointed out that the legislation required 10 Senate Democrats to move to a final vote.

Pelosi said they came to the White House to negotiate a budget in "good faith," asking to keep the debate private.

"That's not bad, Nancy. It's called transparency," Trump said.

Schumer insisted the border wall "doesn't solve the problem."

"It totally solves the problem," Trump retorted.

The exchange in part, according to Grabien:

Pelosi: Let's call a halt to this. We have come in here with the first branch of government. Article one. The legislative branch. We are coming in good faith to negotiate with you about how we can keep the government open.

Schumer: Open.

Trump: We are going to keep it open if we have border security. If we don't have border security, Chuck, we are not going to keep it open.

Pelosi: We will have border security.

Schumer: You are bragging about what has been done. We want to do the same thing we did last year this year. That's our proposal if it's good then, it's good now and it won't shut down the government.

Trump: We're can build more.

Schumer: Let's debate in private.

Trump: We need border security.

Schumer: Yes, we do.

Trump: See, we get along. Thank you, everybody.

Reporter: You say border security and the wall. Can you have border security without the wall?

Trump: "You need the wall. The wall is a part of border security."

Afterward, Pelosi and Schumer told reporters they wanted to keep the negotiations private, Grabien reported. Pelosi explained she thought it rude to correct Trump in public.

"I hear the reporters or Fox reporters saying why did we not want transparency in this discussion," Pelosi said. "We don't want to contradict the president when he was putting forth figures that had no reality to them, no basis in fact.

"We had to if we are going to proceed in all of this have evidence-based factual, truthful information about what works and what doesn't. I didn't want to in front of those people say you don't know what you are talking about."