WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump on Thursday said he and lawmakers will delay a border security fight until after November’s midterms. He also accused the author of an anonymous critical op-ed of treason.

Trump told Fox News in an interview taped before a rally in Billings, Mont., set to air Friday morning that he is inclined to shut the government down after Sept. 30 if he doesn’t get his way, but “I don’t want to do anything that will hurt us, or potentially hurt us.”

“So, most likely, I will not do that,” he said, according to a pool report.

Trump said a debate on border security and immigration will take place after the elections, “when hopefully it will be easier because we’ll have more Republicans.”

He did not signal whether he will only eventually accept the $5 billion figure for fiscal 2019 border barrier funds that he has endorsed, or if a lesser amount would suffice. A House funding bill includes that amount, but a Senate version proposes only $1.6 billion.