Although President Donald Trump claims a landslide victory in 2016, he actually lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million. So the majority of the voters were not buying what he was selling and that included the southern border wall.

Yet he persists but doesn't follow through with the other part of that promise: Mexico would pay for the wall. So who does he expect to pay; the American taxpayers!

There are many things I am willing to pay for with my taxes but the wall is not one of them.

The partial shutdown has directly affected 800,000 government workers and their families. Mr. Trump doesn't care because he claims most of them are Democrats.

He has no way of knowing the party affiliation of government workers. His shutdown has a serious impact on millions of Americans who need or rely on the services not being provided by these furloughed workers. From our National Parks to our federal courts, the impact is significant.

Mr. Trump also promised to "make America great again" by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure to the tune of $550 billion. I believe the majority of Americans and Congress support this idea. Let's start by using the $5 billion to build bridges not walls.

David Bolesh

Lisbon