WASHINGTON — A Republican bid to keep the government open past Friday includes no new money for the construction of a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to several congressional aides familiar with ongoing talks.

GOP leaders submitted the new offer Tuesday afternoon to appease Democrats, whose votes are needed to avert a shutdown of federal agencies, several House and Senate aides said.

However, Republicans also insisted on increases in border security and defense spending, including money to repair existing fencing and new surveillance technology to patrol the nearly 2,000-mile border. Democrats have indicated that they would support such appropriations so long as no money goes toward an actual wall.

The two sides remain at odds over money for subsidy payments under the Affordable Care Act, the extension of a health-care program for coal miners and a series of unrelated measures known typically known as riders.

The new offer comes as Republicans also push negotiations on tax reform and health care, as they try to demonstrate forward motion on President Trump’s other top domestic priorities.

On Monday, Trump seemed to soften his demand for immediate funding for construction of a border wall, telling a small group of conservative reporters that he would be open to delaying a confrontation with Democrats over the border until September.

But on Tuesday, a defiant Trump insisted that “The wall’s going to get built.”

Meeting with farmers at the White House, he defended his administration’s work on border security so far, noting that illegal border crossings have dropped more than 70 percent in the past year.

Asked by reporters when the wall would be built, Trump said, “Soon.”

“We’re already preparing. We’re doing plans, we’re doing specifications, we’re doing a lot of work on the wall, and the wall is going to get built,” he added.

When a reporter asked if the wall will be built in his first term, Trump said, “Yeah, we have plenty of time. We’ve got a lot of time.”

Despite the president’s fluctuations, congressional leaders remained encouraged that at least for now, the White House won’t be pushing for border money.

“The fact that the wall is now off the table — Americans should breathe a huge sigh of relief,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

“I think he realizes that it is unlikely to be part of the negotiation this time around,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., a member of Senate leadership, said of Trump. “It is becoming more of a nonissue.”

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a top appropriator, called Trump’s comments “helpful” to resolving weeks of talks over government spending.

“This is that moment where the president has to determine that you need some Democrat votes in the Senate to get the bill done. And the Democrats have to determine that there are a lot of things in that bill that they want as well,” Blunt said. “They need a bill that the president will sign, and nobody can get too far out of the zone and hope to get both of those things done.”

But Trump’s comments earned a swift rebuke Tuesday from prominent conservatives, including radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who told his millions of listeners that Trump is “caving on his demand” for money to build a border wall.

Limbaugh added that if Trump is “willing to withdraw a demand” for border money, “then the Democrats will have just learned that this threat works on Trump, too, not just all the other Republicans.”

House and Senate negotiators worked throughout a two-week Easter break on details of the spending plan, but the talks broke down last week after White House officials began demanding greater concessions from Democrats, including explicit funding for the border wall. Democrats firmly oppose any new money for construction of a wall, but have said they are willing to agree to significant increases in defense spending, including money for the Department of Homeland Security to spend on surveillance and security on the border with Mexico.

The issue of health subsidy payments, which affect approximately 7 million Americans, has become the primary sticking point in the talks, the aides said. Democratic leaders demanded that the payments, which are included in the Affordable Care Act but which Trump has said he might not continue, be fully funded in the short-term spending bill to give Congress the power to make the payments.