Many people have told him

Speaking to reporters after calling troops on Christmas Day, Trump said lawmakers must approve wall funding or else the shutdown will continue.

“I can't tell you when the government is going to be open,” he said. “I can tell you, it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence, whatever they'd like to call it. I'll call it whatever they want.”

Trump argued that thousands of workers being furloughed due to the shutdown also want the wall.

“Many of those workers have said to me, communicated, stay out until you get the funding for the wall. These federal workers want the wall,” the president said.

  The Hill

They'd rather have the wall than get paid.

Trump [...] blasted Democrats as hypocrites, saying their opposition to a border wall is like their criticism of his decision to fire James Comey after they hammered the FBI director over his handling of the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's email.

“Everybody hated Comey. They thought he did a horrible job. The Democrats hated him, they were calling for his resignation, they were calling for his resignation ... until I fired him,” Trump said.

“It's a disgrace what's happening in our country. But other than that, I wish everybody a very Merry Christmas,” he concluded.

Jesus wept.

UPDATE: