"I am all alone in WH", says Trump as partial govt shutdown enters third day
Washington, Dec 25 (PTI) Bored at the White House on Christmas Eve, a lone Donald Trump spent the day slamming his critics, as the government entered its third day of partial shutdown initiated by a rift with Democrats over the President's long-promised wall along the US-Mexico border.
President Trump, who has cancelled his trip to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday, said he was "all alone" in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come to the negotiating table to end the partial government shutdown.
Through a series of tweets and pictures, Trump showed he was working hard while the opposition Democratic lawmakers were in their homes celebrating Christmas.
"I am all alone (poor me) in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal on desperately needed Border Security," Trump tweeted on Monday.
Trump wants the Democrats to fund for a border wall to stop illegal immigrants from entering the US. Democrats have refused his demands for USD 5 billion in funding for his border wall in a standoff that resulted in a partial government at midnight on Friday.
"At some point the Democrats not wanting to make a deal will cost our country more money than the border wall we are all talking about. Crazy!" Trump said.
Several hours later, Trump said in a tweet that he was in the Oval Office and working on border security.
"I am in the Oval Office and just gave out a 115-mile-long contract for another large section of the Wall in Texas. We are already building and renovating many miles of Wall, some complete. Democrats must end Shutdown and finish funding. Billions of dollars, and lives, will be saved!" he said.
He also tweeted a picture of him with senior administration officials for a briefing on North Korea.
"Christmas Eve briefing with my team working on North Korea Progress being made. Looking forward to my next summit with Chairman Kim!" Trump said.
Later in the evening, he and the First lady Melania helped children across the country to track Santa.
"Nothing new on the shutdown. We need more security," he told reporters during this phone call with children.
Santa Tracker is a 63-year tradition of tracking Santa's sleigh from the North Pole to children all over the world.
Despite the shutdown, military personnel were on the operation, as were reportedly some 1,500 people who volunteer each year.
Trump told a kid named Coleman, "Hello, is this Coleman? Merry Christmas. How are you? How old are you?.... Are you doing well in school? Are you still a believer in Santa Claus?"
"How are you? Are you tracking Santa? ...I want to wish you a Merry Christmas. Thank you. Nice talking to you," Melania told an unidentified child.
"What's Santa going to get you for Christmas? Who's with you....Have a great Christmas., and I'll talk to you again, OK?" Trump told another kid, possibly from Indiana.
"Are you tracking Santa? Do you know where he is?... I hope your dreams come true," said Melania to another child.
Trump also could be heard asking kids where they were from and then thanking a general, possibly from NORAD or the North American Aerospace Command.
Trump and the First Lady attended a Christmas Service at Washington National Cathedral Monday night.
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Shivakumar urges centre to intervene on Alamatti dam height issue
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday urged the Centre to intervene and allow Karnataka to raise the height of the Almatti dam across the Krishna river.
He also said that he will lead an all-party delegation to Delhi in this regard.
Noting that all three states -- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra -- have opposed the project, he said the Andhra Pradesh government has asked the Centre not to allow Karnataka acquire land for the proposed project to increase the dam's height from 519 meters to 524 meters.
"Andhra Pradesh government has written to the Centre asking it to refrain from giving any approval or gazette notification that allows Karnataka to carry out land acquisition for the proposed project stating the matter is pending before the Supreme Court," Shivakumar, who is also the state's water resources minister said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, the Union Water Resources Secretary has sought Karnataka's response. "We will reply to it after consulting legal experts."
"I did not expect Andhra Pradesh to react this way. (Andhra Pradesh CM) Chandrababu Naidu is an experienced politician; he is aware of everything, but they are now putting such pressure on the centre. I'm unable to understand this," he said.
Noting that the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) award permitted Karnataka to raise the dam to 524 metres and that there was no stay from the Supreme Court, the Deputy CM said and appealed to the Centre to act in accordance with earlier orders.
He also appealed to all the parliament members of Karnataka to put pressure on the central government in this regard, in the interest of the state.
"I will be sending all the details and records to our MPs; we need to build pressure on the centre, Prime Minister and the Union Jal Shakti minister on the issue when the Parliament session begins on March 10," he said, adding that he also plans to lead an all-party delegation to Delhi in this regard.
Pointing out that the Karnataka cabinet, on September 16, 2025, decided to acquire 1.33 lakh acres of land for this project in one go, through consent acquisition, and planned to allocate Rs 70,000 crore for land acquisition in three phases, Shivakumar said, adding, "Now obstacles are being caused to it."
Further delays would escalate costs, he said, as land compensation has become a major burden, with courts awarding higher payouts after farmers rejected earlier offers of Rs 8-9 lakh per acre during the previous BJP government.
"After deliberations, compensation is fixed in the range of Rs 35-40 lakh per acre, with some awards reaching Rs 10 crore because of litigations," he said, adding that around Rs 20,000 crore has already been spent on the project.
Asserting that it is "our water, our land", Shivakumar said, "I appeal to Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra not to interfere in this project; it is not good for you."
