On Friday, President Donald Trump hinted that he could announce a national emergency along the southern border during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
Trump told reporters he’s “certainly thinking about” making that announcement. “I think there’s a good chance we’ll have to do that,” he said.
When pushed further about whether he would make the announcement during the address, he said, “What I’m saying is listen closely to the State of the Union. I think you’ll find it very exciting.”
For weeks, Trump has said that if Democrats refuse to give him funding for his promised border wall, he could instead declare a national emergency to get it done. Expecting a legal challenge to any such declaration, Trump says, “We have very, very strong legal standing, it would be very hard to do that. But they tend to go to the Ninth Circuit and when they go to the Ninth Circuit, things happen.”
Trump told reporters Friday there’s a “good chance” he’ll declare a national emergency on the U.S. southern border but told them to wait until his #SOTU address https://t.co/ZedH0aTKqv
— Bloomberg Government (@BGOV) February 1, 2019
Trump also said there might be a new and improved wall.
“We’re negotiating very tough prices, we’ve designed a much better looking wall that is also actually a better wall, which is actually an interesting combination – it’s far more beautiful and it’s better – it’s much more protective.” Trump said.
But the President refused to definitively say whether or not he would make the declaration during his address Tuesday. “I don’t want to say, you’ll hear the State of the Union, and then you’ll see what happens right after the State of the Union,” Trump told a reporter.
“I don’t think Democrats want border security”
At the moment, a bipartisan group is trying to find a way to reach an agreeable deal that would include the wall before February 15, when the government could shut down again. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly resisted any wall funding. Trump refuses to agree to anything that doesn’t include wall funding.
So declaring a national emergency might be his only option.
“We will be looking at a national emergency, because I don’t think anything’s going to happen. I don’t think Democrats want border security,” Trump told reporters. “And when I hear them talk about the fact that walls are immoral and walls don’t work – they know they work.”