Trump Considers Declaring A National Emergency To Help Pay For Border Wall
The president said he was mulling the move so he can build the wall “for the security of our country."
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. The FBI, on the sidelines during the fierce debate over whether Brett Kavanaugh should be on the Supreme Court, will now play a central role in shaping the outcome of his nomination in a short probe Trump called a “blessing in disguise.” Photographer: Chris Kleponis/Pool via Bloomberg
President Donald Trump has shown that he is willing to do whatever it takes to get his long-desired border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. And on Friday, he said he might declare a national emergency to help pay for the wall.
Trump shared his thoughts during a press conference Friday, adding that he would consider declaring a national emergency to help get funds to build the wall “for the security of our country,” ABC News reports.
He did not elaborate further.
The president made his comments as he entered the second week of a partial government shutdown. It came after Trump decided not to sign a spending bill that would stop it from happening last month. Trump made the promise to build it while on the campaign trail but has failed to secure funding to erect it.
And now with Democrats regaining control of the House this week, Congress is less likely to negotiate on the terms.
“We are not doing a wall,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday, calling the proposed structure an “immorality.”
On Friday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters after a meeting with the president that Trump told lawmakers that he is prepared to keep the government closed “for a very long period of time, months or even years.”
