During a news conference with the Italian prime minister on Monday, President Donald Trump reemphasized his willingness to shut down the government unless Congress passes immigration reform including funding of his long-promised border wall.

“As far as the border is concerned, and personally, if we don’t get border security, after many, many years of talk within the United States, I would have no problem doing a shutdown,” he said standing alongside Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House. “It’s time we had proper border security. We’re the laughing stock of the world. We have the worst immigration laws anywhere in the world.”

Asked if he would veto a spending bill if it didn’t include full funding of the wall, Trump said, “I’ll always leave room for negotiations.”

Congress is up against a September deadline to pass a funding bill or the government could shut down Oct. 1, just a little more than a month before the November midterm elections, in which GOP control over the House and Senate hangs in the balance.

Trump signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill on March that allocated $1.6 billion for the wall, which he vowed during his campaign that Mexico would pay for, but designated that the funds can’t be used on new construction.

A measure that would have provided $25 billion for the wall was defeated in the House in June.

Trump raised the idea of shutting down the government over immigration in a tweet on Sunday if Democrats “don’t give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan met with Trump at the White House last week to walk him through the spending process and tell him any negotiations over the border wall should be pushed until after the elections.

The Republican congressional leaders are hoping to avoid any controversial political matters before voters head to the polls on Nov. 6.