WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump met with House Republican leaders on legislative issues, including border security, at the White House on Tuesday.
A White House statement said the president welcomed the newly-elected House Republican leadership and they discussed "the great need for border security at this crucial time," among other things.
The meeting came amid a tense situation along the U.S. southern border with Mexico, where border officials fired tear gas on hundreds of migrants who sought to enter the United States on Sunday.
The U.S. president and the White House have defended the use of tear gas but the action has drawn sharp criticism from the Democrats.
U.S. news outlets said Trump and the House Republicans were also talking about a spending plan that includes funding for the president's long-promised border wall with Mexico, a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign.
Trump has said that he wants 5 billion U.S. dollars for the wall and that it could be a "good time" for a shutdown if he doesn't receive the funding he seeks.
The federal government is set to run out of funding at midnight on Dec. 7.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the White House meeting is "very productive," adding that the president "is very solid with where he wants to go and what he needs to have a secure border."
McCarthy was elected earlier this month as the House minority leader, the top Republican in the lower chamber of the new Congress starting January after the Republicans lost its House majority in the mid-term elections.
The White House said that issues including the California wildfire, farm bill, prison reform, budget for the next fiscal year and General Motors' decision to cut jobs and shut down factories in North America were also discussed during the meeting.
