President Trump called for Republicans to compromise on immigration reform Thursday, but suggested he would block legislation if Democrats didn't give a little on his policy demands too.
"We'll either have something that's fair and equitable and good and secure or we'll have nothing at all," Trump told Republican lawmakers at a gathering in West Virginia.
Trump urged a deal including status for immigrants covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as a Feb. 8 government funding deadline looms.
"To get it done, we'll all have to make some compromises along the way, to get it done this way. ... With the tax bill we got what we wanted because we had essentially a unanimous vote," Trump said.
"We have to compromise unless we elect more Republicans," he said. "We have to be willing to give a little in order for our country to gain a whole lot."
Trump said a four-plank immigration reform framework submitted to Congress was offered "with great flexibility, great flexibility," but that "the Republican position on immigration is the center mainstream view of the American people with some extra strength at the border and security at the border added in."
The administration's framework calls for a path to citizenship for 1.8 million people covered by DACA, funding for a border wall and border security, new limits to extended family chain migration, and an end to the diversity visa lottery system.
President Barack Obama created DACA to shield from deportation undocumented immigrants brought illegally into the United States as minors. Critics argued this should have been done through legislation rather than executive action. Trump announced in September he would end the program on March 5, giving Congress time to act.
Trump questioned Democrats' willingness to make a deal. "We want to take care of DACA, and I hope we will. We need the support of Democrats in order to do it, and they might not want to do it," he said.