Amid shutdown, Trump visits Texas in effort to boost argument for border wall

Amid shutdown, Trump visits Texas in effort to boost argument for border wall



Philip Rucker, Felicia Sonmez
17 mins ago



Video by Reuters

After abruptly walking out of budget negotiations with Democrats to end the government shutdown, President Trump on Thursday took his case for building a wall to the U.S.-Mexico border, where he claims illegal crossings have created a humanitarian and security crisis.

Trump arrived early Thursday afternoon in McAllen, Tex., in the Rio Grande Valley, one of the busiest regions of the southern border and the epicenter of his administration’s controversial family separations.

At a U.S. Border Patrol station, where he attended a roundtable on immigration and border security, Trump continued to press the case for his border wall, which he maintained would be paid for by Mexico “many, many times over” through a new trade deal that has yet to be ratified by Congress.

]Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today’s most popular stories on The Washington Post

“I didn’t mean, ‘Please write me a check,’” Trump said of his oft-made claim that Mexico would pay for the wall.

Even if approved by Congress, the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal would not necessarily contribute more money to federal coffers, as countries do not “lose” money on trade deficits.

Trump also blamed Democrats for the continued partial government shutdown, pushing back against their criticism that the situation at the border was a crisis “manufactured” by the White House.

“It’s not. What is manufactured is the use of the word ‘manufactured,’” Trump said.

Trump was later set to take a tour along the Rio Grande, where he will receive a security briefing. Trump also will sit for an interview at the border with Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity, one of the president’s friends and outside advisers.

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Slide 1 of 13: President Donald Trump (C), with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (L), speaks during his visit to US Border Patrol McAllen Station in McAllen, Texas, on January 10, 2019

Previous Slide

Next Slide

Full screen

1/13 SLIDES  Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images  


Trump travels to the US-Mexico border as part of his all-out offensive to build a wall, a day after he stormed out of negotiations when Democratic opponents refused to agree to fund the project in exchange for an end to a painful government shutdown.
President Donald Trump (C), with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (L), speaks during his visit to US Border Patrol McAllen Station on Jan. 10.

2/13 SLIDES  Evan Vucci/AP Photo


People watch as the motorcade of President Donald Trump passes by during Trump's visit to the southern border, on Jan. 10.

3/13 SLIDES  Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images


President Donald Trump speaks during his visit to US Border Patrol McAllen Station in McAllen, Texas, on Jan. 10.

4/13 SLIDES  Leah Millis/Reuters


U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers photograph President Donald Trump as he arrives for a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border at McAllen-Miller International Airport in Jan. 10.

5/13 SLIDES  Eric Gay/AP Photo


Supporters of President Donald Trump wait outside the McAllen International Airport for Trump's visit to the southern border, on Jan. 10.

6/13 SLIDES  Eric Gay/AP Photo


The motorcade of President Donald Trump, making a visit to the southern border, passes groups opposed to border walls being built along the Texas-Mexico border, on Jan. 10.

7/13 SLIDES  Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images


Security are seen on the roof as US President Donald Trump arrives at McAllen International Airport on Jan. 10.

8/13 SLIDES  Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images


US President Donald Trump (C) visits US Border Patrol McAllen Station in McAllen, Texas, on Jan. 10, with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (R).

9/13 SLIDES  Eric Gay/AP Photo


Groups opposed to border walls being built along the Texas-Mexico border gather outside the McAllen International Airport as they wait for the arrival of President Donald Trump who is making a visit to the southern border, on Jan. 10.

10/13 SLIDES  Julio Cesar Aguilar/AFP/Getty Images


Central American migrants hold a demonstration as President Donald Trump visits McAllen, Texas, on the Rio Bravo at the border between the Mexican city of Reynosa, in the state of Tamaulipas and the US city of Hidalgo, in Texas, on Jan. 10.

11/13 SLIDES  Evan Vucci/AP Photo


President Donald Trump gestures after arriving at McAllen International Airport for a visit to the southern border, on Jan. 10.

12/13 SLIDES  Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo


(Pictured) President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he leaves the White House for a trip to the border in Texas as the government shutdown continues, on Jan. 10 in Washington.

13/13 SLIDES  Leah Millis/Reuters


President Trump walks from Marine One as he departs for a visit to the US southern border area in Texas from Joint Base Andrews, on Jan. 10 in Maryland.

13/13 SLIDES




Slideshow by photo services

Trump privately has raised doubts about whether his photo op appearance in Texas will prove persuasive for members of Congress, who three weeks into a partial government shutdown remain dug in and deeply divided over the merits and morality of a border wall.

Talks to reopen the government are at a stalemate as the shutdown nears its fourth week and thousands of furloughed federal workers go without pay. Trump stormed out of a negotiating session on Wednesday, saying “Bye-bye” after Democratic leaders said they would refuse to give him the $5.7 billion he is seeking to build the wall.

Trump’s visit to the southern border is orchestrated to convey urgency about building a wall and comes as the president is weighing whether to declare a national emergency at the border — a risky move that would trigger executive powers for him to construct the wall without congressional approval but also invite court challenges and political blowback.

“I have the option,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House en route to Texas. “If this doesn’t work out, I’ll probably will do it, maybe definitely.”

Trump said that he is not ready yet to declare an emergency and that he would still prefer to work with Congress. He added that he is willing to compromise.

“I would like to do the deal through Congress,” he said. “It makes sense to do the deal through Congress. . . . It would be nice if we can make a deal, but dealing with these people is ridiculous.”
Reuters REFILE ADDING IDENTIFICATION U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion at the U.S. Border Patrol Station in McAllen, Texas, U.S., January 10, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis
Talks Wednesday with congressional leaders ended in acrimony. Trump asked Democrats if they would later support funding a wall if he were to quickly reopen the government, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said no, and the president walked out of the room.

“It wasn’t even a high-stakes negotiation,” Pelosi said. “It was a petulant president of the United States, a person who would say, ‘I’ll keep government shut down for weeks, months or years unless I get my way.’ ”

Trump for his part called the meeting “a total waste of time,” adding on Twitter, “I said bye-bye, nothing else works!”

Trump has sought to build public momentum all week for the wall, a signature campaign promise that went unfulfilled during his first two years in office, a period when Republicans had the majority in both houses of Congress.

With Democrats now in control the House, the opposition party is unified and emboldened to stop Trump from building a wall, which he long proposed as made of concrete but now says he envisions as a barrier built of steel slats.

“We need a barrier to stop the human traffickers and the drug trade, and to stop all of the big problems that come, including gangs,” Trump said Wednesday during a visit to the Capitol to meet with Senate Republicans. “They don’t come through your checkpoints; they come through areas where you have hundreds of miles without walls and without barriers, or without strong fences.”

In a Tuesday night Oval Office address to the nation, Trump said the situation at the border had reached crisis proportions, describing murder, rape and even beheadings by illegal immigrants. But immigration experts said he was dramatically exaggerating the situation, and Democrats accused him of fearmongering and of manufacturing a crisis in an attempt to build a portion of his promised wall.

But Trump is unlikely to see death and destruction firsthand in McAllen, a city of about 140,000. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D), who represents the area, said McAllen has been experiencing some of the lowest crime rates in 30 years. He faulted Trump for not doing enough on border security under existing laws, including not filling some 7,500 vacancies with the Customs and Border Protection.

“It would be my hope that the president would come to this realization and put his calls for a physical barrier to rest,” Gonzalez wrote in a statement. During Trump’s visit to McAllen, Gonzalez added, “He should feel free to walk around and support our local businesses. After all, it is safer to walk around McAllen than it is D.C.”

McAllen has become a focal point in the debate over immigration.

Over the past decade, it and the surrounding Rio Grande Valley have become the busiest place along the U.S.-Mexico border for illegal crossings, and a place where U.S. authorities have struggled to cope with a migration shift from single adults to families, teens and children.

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Slide 1 of 49: U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting on day 12 of the partial U.S. government shutdown at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 2, 2019.

Previous Slide

Next Slide

Full screen

1/49 SLIDES  Jim Young/Reuters  


A partial US government shutdown began at midnight on Dec. 22, 2018,. when a funding agreement between the Congress and President Trump could not be reached.
(Pictured) President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting on day 12 of the partial U.S. government shutdown at the White House in Washington, on Jan. 2.

2/49 SLIDES  Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock


US Speaker of the House Democrat Nancy Pelosi holds a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Jan. 10.

3/49 SLIDES  Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images


Union workers demonstrate against the government shutdown on Jan. 10, in Washington, DC.

4/49 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


Union members and other federal employees rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, on Jan. 10 at AFL-CIO Headquarters in Washington.

5/49 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


Union members and other federal employees rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, on Jan. 10 in Washington.

6/49 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., speaks to union members and other federal employees at a rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, on Jan. 10 in Washington.

7/49 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


Union members and other federal employees rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, on Jan. 10 in Washington.

8/49 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


Union members and other federal employees rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, on Jan. 10 in Washington.

9/49 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


Union members and other federal employees rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, on Jan. 10 in Washington.

10/49 SLIDES  Carlos Barria/Reuters


A demonstrator holds a sign, signifying hundreds of thousands of federal employees who won’t be receiving their paychecks as a result of the partial government shutdown, during a “Rally to End the Shutdown” in Washington, on Jan. 10.

11/49 SLIDES  Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images


Union workers demonstrate against the government shutdown on Jan. 10, in Washington, DC.

12/49 SLIDES  Joshua Roberts/Reuters


U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speak to the news media along with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (L) and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (R-Rear) as they depart the West Wing after meeting with President Donald Trump about the U.S. government partial shutdown and his demand for a border wall in the Situation Room at the White House in Washington, on Jan 9.

13/49 SLIDES  Carlos Barria/Reuters


Vice President Mike Pence speaks to reporters with Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and U.S Senator John Thune (R-SD) after a meeting with President Donald Trump and Congressional Democrats about the U.S. government partial shutdown and the president's demand for a border wall in the Situation Room at the White House in Washington, on Jan. 9.

14/49 SLIDES  Jim Young/Reuters


U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he stands with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Vice President Mike Pence and other members of the Republican Senate leadership as the president departs after addressing a closed Senate Republican policy lunch while a partial government shutdown enters its 19th day on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Jan. 9.

15/49 SLIDES  Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty Images


U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA 3rd District) speaks during a non-partisan rally protesting the Federal Government Shutdown at Independence Mall, in Philadelphia, on Jan. 8.

16/49 SLIDES  Mark Makela/Getty Images


Furloughed federal workers and area elected officials hold a protest rally in front of Independence Hall on Jan. 8 in Philadelphia.

17/49 SLIDES  Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty Images


Furloughed federal workers, joined by elected officials, hold up sings to protest the federal government shutdown during a non-partisan rally at Independence Mall, in Philadelphia, on Jan. 8.

18/49 SLIDES  Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty Images


Furloughed federal workers, joined by elected officials, hold up sings to protest the federal government shutdown during a non-partisan rally at Independence Mall, in Philadelphia, on Jan. 8.

19/49 SLIDES  Julio Cortez/AP Photo


Federal Aviation Administration employee Michael Jessie, who is currently working without pay as an aviation safety inspector for New York international field office overseeing foreign air carriers, holds a sign while attending a news conference at Newark Liberty International Airport, on Jan. 8, in Newark, N.J.

20/49 SLIDES  Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty Images


Furloughed federal workers, joined by elected officials, hold up sings to protest the federal government shutdown during a non-partisan rally at Independence Mall, in Philadelphia, on Jan. 8.

21/49 SLIDES  Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty Images


Furloughed federal workers, joined by elected officials, protest the federal government shutdown during a non-partisan rally at Independence Mall, in Philadelphia, on Jan. 8.

22/49 SLIDES  Kevin Lamarque/Reuters


The dome of the U.S. Capitol is seen beyond a chain fence during the partial government shutdown in Washington, on Jan. 8.

23/49 SLIDES  Mark Makela/Getty Images


(C) David Fitzpatrick, 64, a Park Ranger, holds an American flag and a placard, during a protest rally in front of Independence Hall on Jan. 8 in Philadelphia.

24/49 SLIDES  Mark Makela/Getty Images


Furloughed federal workers and area elected officials hold a protest rally in front of Independence Hall on Jan. 8 in Philadelphia.

25/49 SLIDES  J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo


The Capitol and Washington Monument are seen at dawn as the partial government shutdown lurches into a third week with Trump standing firm in his border wall funding demands, in Washington, on Jan. 7.

26/49 SLIDES  Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images


Aerial view of Trump's border wall prototypes as seen from Tijuana, in Baja California state, Mexico, on Jan. 7.

27/49 SLIDES  Kevin Lamarque/Reuters


A group passes in front of the White House Visitor Center, now closed due to the partial government shutdown in Washington, on Jan. 7.

28/49 SLIDES  Jim Young/Reuters


The entrance to the Smithsonian's National Gallery of Art is padlocked as a partial government shutdown continues, in Washington, on Jan. 7.

29/49 SLIDES  Jonathan Ernst/Reuters


Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) addresses the partial federal shutdown with residents of the Pickersgill Retirement Community in Towson, Maryland, on Jan. 7.

30/49 SLIDES  Mike Segar/Reuters


A closed sign is seen on a fence at the General Grant National Memorial, for former President Ulysses S. Grant, as the partial government shutdown continues, in Manhattan, New York City on Jan. 7.

31/49 SLIDES  Erik S Lesser/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock


A Transportation Security Agency (TSA) agent checks the identification of air travelers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on Jan. 7.

32/49 SLIDES  J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo


A police officer and K-9 do a routine security check at the Capitol as the partial government shutdown lurches into a third week with President Trump standing firm in his border wall funding demands, in Washington, on Jan. 7.

33/49 SLIDES  Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images


President Trump speaks to the press as he departs the White House in Washington, on Jan. 6, for meetings at Camp David.

34/49 SLIDES  Matt McClain/The Washington Post/Getty Images


A pedestrian climbs back over a fence leading to Theodore Roosevelt Island that was closed due to the government shutdown on Jan. 6 in Arlington, VA.

35/49 SLIDES  Joshua Roberts/Reuters


Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, Vice President Mike Pence and Senior White House Advisor Stephen Miller walk to the West Wing of the White House, on Jan. 5 before a meeting with Congressional staffers about ending the partial government shutdown.

36/49 SLIDES  Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)


People walk past a sign announcing that New York funds are keeping the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island open for visitors on Jan. 5 in New York, as the government shutdown enters its third week.

37/49 SLIDES  Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo


Transportation Security Administration officers work at a checkpoint at O'Hare airport in Chicago, on Jan. 5. The TSA acknowledged an increase in the number of its employees calling off work during the partial government shutdown.

38/49 SLIDES  Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images


President Donald Trump, with Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy, right, speaks at a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, on Jan. 4.

39/49 SLIDES  Jim Young/Reuters


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) speak to reporters following the meeting with President Trump at the White House in Washington, on Jan. 4.

40/49 SLIDES  Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images


President Trump listens as Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, on Jan. 4.

41/49 SLIDES  Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images


Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Secretary for the Majority Laura Dove head to the floor to open the session at the Capitol, on Jan. 4 in Washington. 

42/49 SLIDES  Susan Walsh/AP Photo


Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., is followed by reporters as he returns to Capitol Hill in Washington, on Jan. 4, following a meeting at the White House with President Trump. 

43/49 SLIDES  Evan Vucci/AP Photo


White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders talks to reporters about the government shutdown outside the White House, on Jan. 4.

44/49 SLIDES  J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo


Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., center, joined at right by Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., pushes back on President Trump's demand to fund a wall on the US-Mexico border with the partial government shutdown in its second week, at the Capitol on Jan. 3.

45/49 SLIDES  J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo


House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., center, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., push back on President Trump's demand for funding to build a wall on the US-Mexico border as the partial government shutdown is in its second week, at the Capitol on Jan. 3.

46/49 SLIDES  Kathy Willens/AP Photo


The Ryan Visitor Center at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, part of the 27,000-acre Gateway National Recreation Area, which encompasses three boroughs of New York and Monmouth County, New Jersey, remained closed, on Jan. 3, in New York, on Day 12 of a partial government shutdown.

47/49 SLIDES  Evan Vucci/AP Photo


White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway speaks to reporters about the government shutdown on Jan. 3 in Washington, D.C.

48/49 SLIDES  Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock


Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Kevin Hassett speaks to members of the news media on the economy and the ongoing partial shutdown of the federal government outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 3.

49/49 SLIDES  Joshua Roberts/Reuters


President Trump is applauded by members of Congress and other attendees as he says he will not answer questions from reporters about an impending U.S. Government shutdown during a bill signing ceremony for the “First Step Act” and the “Juvenile Justice Reform Act” in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on Dec. 21.

49/49 SLIDES

Slideshow by photo services

Trump’s first stop Thursday was the McAllen Border Patrol station. Its holding cells became so overcrowded during a 2014 crisis that the government purchased a nearby warehouse, converting it into a designated processing center for families and children.

Trump is not planning to visit that facility, whose chain-link detention pens were likened to cages during the president’s “zero-tolerance” crackdown last spring, when the government separated thousands of migrant children from their parents until public outcry forced the White House to stop.

The president’s itinerary Thursday will also take him to the Rio Grande, and the winding river banks where the Trump administration’s border wall plan would add dozens of miles of fencing. Because of the river’s meandering course, the barriers would be built primarily along flood levees, potentially leaving private farms and ranches in a no man’s land between the wall and the border.

Large tracts of private property would need to be acquired by the government to create space for the wall and service roads, driving up construction costs, and several local farmers and ranchers in the McAllen area say they will challenge the administration’s plan in court.

Thursday’s visit marked Trump’s second trip to the U.S.-Mexico border as president. Last year, he traveled to the San Diego area, where he viewed wall prototypes. First lady Melania Trump traveled to the McAllen area last year amid the family-separations crisis to visit migrant children at a border shelter.



http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/amid-shutdown-trump-visits-texas-in-effort-to-boost-argument-for-border-wall/ar-BBS46tB?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=U453DHP