President Trump confirmed in a tweet that if Congress doesn’t appropriate funds for a border wall with Mexico, the U.S. military will construct the wall themselves.
Today, the President is meeting with Democrat leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi in order to hash out a deal that keeps the government open past the shutdown deadline, which comes in about two weeks. The biggest point of contention: The $5 billion Trump is demanding to construct a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Before heading into the meeting, Pelosi already announced her opposition to the wall, calling it “immoral, ineffective, and expensive.”
But, so far, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has agreed to $1.6 billion in funds for the wall. With only 51 Republican senators, Trump will need to pick off at least 9 Democrat votes to pass the spending measure. For now, it appears Democrats are unwilling to budge.
In order to cajole Pelosi and Schumer into working with him to secure the border, Trump sent out a series of sharply-worded tweets just before the meeting. (RELATED: President Trump Warns of Illegal Immigration Dangers Ahead of Pelosi and Schumer Meeting.)
Trump to use the military to build the wall
Amid this tweetstorm, the President slipped in his trump card for ultimately getting the wall built. Take a look:
….People do not yet realize how much of the Wall, including really effective renovation, has already been built. If the Democrats do not give us the votes to secure our Country, the Military will build the remaining sections of the Wall. They know how important it is!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2018
Here’s what Trump is saying: ‘If Democrats play hardball, I’ll have the military build the wall by itself, thereby bypassing Congress and Pelosi’s Democrat minions.’ This isn’t the first time Trump has floated the idea of using military funds to build the border. He did so back in March. (RELATED: President Trump’s Border Wall May Finally Be Funded!)
The difference now is that Trump is running out of time. Democrats are set to take control of the House of Representatives next month. There’s no expectation of getting border wall funding from an unruly Democrat caucus.
So Trump has what remains of the congressional calendar for this year to make it happen. National security shouldn’t be an issue up for political posturing and deliberations. And border integrity is undoubtedly part of our national security.
Democrats are putting us in danger by dithering on funding the border wall. They’re playing politics as our country remains vulnerable.
[totalpoll id=”107806″]
If Democrats refuse to fund the border wall, Trump is well within his authority to have the military construct the wall.
