The president initially gave a
positive account of the 90-minute meeting at the White House, describing it as
“very productive”.
However, when asked whether he had
considered using emergency presidential powers to bypass congressional approval
of funding, President Trump said he had.
He said: “I may do it. We can call a national emergency and build it very
quickly. That’s another way of doing it.”
“I’m very proud of doing what I’m
doing,” President Trump added.
“I don’t call it a shutdown, I call it
doing what you have to do for the benefit and safety of our country.”
On January 4, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the meeting had been
“contentious”, while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: “We told the president we needed the
government open. He resisted.”
Democrats, who now hold the majority in the House, passed spending bills on
January 3 to reopen the government, including $1.3 billion of border security
funds until February 8.
However, the legislation cannot take effect unless it passes the Republican-controlled Senate, where leader Mitch McConnell said his party would not back any measure without President Trump’s support.
President Trump told cheering supporters at a campaign-style rally in Cedar Rapids on June 21 that he would “give you an idea that nobody has heard about yet”.
He said: “We’re thinking of something that’s unique, we’re talking about the southern border, lots of sun, lots of heat. We’re thinking about building the wall as a solar wall, so it creates energy and pays for itself. And this way, Mexico will have to pay much less money, and that’s good, right?”
The president added: “Solar wall, panels, beautiful. I mean actually think of it, the higher it goes the more valuable it is. Pretty good imagination right? Good? My idea.”
More than 200 companies have reportedly responded to an invitation from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to submit designs for the Mexican wall.
Among them was one from Gleason Partners in Las Vegas that proposed a wall of steel, cement and solar panels.
In April, media reported that President Trump had raised the idea with Republican Congressional leaders in talks at the White House.
In an article for the Wall Street Journal in March, two academics also suggested the idea of a solar paneled wall.
Mexico has warned the United States against imposing a unilateral tax on Mexican imports to finance the border wall, saying it could respond in kind.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said the government could place tariffs on selected goods from United States reliant on exports to Mexico.
Earlier, President Donald Trump vowed to start building the wall “soon, way ahead of schedule”.
The US government says it will start accepting design proposals next month.
The US Customs and Border Protection Agency has informed that it will ask companies to submit proposals “for the design and build of several prototype wall structures” on or around March 6.
A shortlist of the best designs will be drawn up by March 20, after which bidders will be asked to cost their ideas.
Contracts are expected to be awarded by mid-April.
Addressing the CPAC in Maryland on February 24, President Donald Trump vowed to always put American citizens first and build a “great, great border wall”.
Donald Trump has pledged that Mexico will pay for the wall, which could cost up to $21.5 billion, according to Reuters, which cited a Department of Homeland Security internal report.
The figure is much higher than Donald Trump’s estimated price tag of $12 billion.
President Trump has proposed to levy a 20% tax on Mexican imports to pay for a border wall.
In a radio interview on February 24, Luis Videgeray said that “Mexico believes in free trade”, but “would have to respond” if the US tried to fund a border wall by imposing a tax on Mexican imports.
“What we cannot do is remain with our arms crossed,” he said.
“Mexico will face this as a reality and not just as a rhetorical threat because we have realized that rhetorical threats come and go.”
According to reports, Luis Videgeray has previously identified states including Iowa, Texas and Wisconsin as possible targets for retaliatory tariffs.
Mexico is by far the top destination for Texan exports, with goods worth $92.4 billion exported there in 2015, according to the US Department of Commerce.
The wall is a sensitive political subject in Mexico. President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a trip to meet President Trump last month over the dispute and has said Mexico will not fund the wall.
On February 23, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly met their Mexican counterparts in Mexico City.
Neither side made any mention of the wall in the news conference after their closed-door meetings.
President Donald Trump needs Congressional approval for funding before moving forward with construction of the wall.
Addressing the Conservative Political Action Congress (CPAC), President Donald Trump has promised to start building a wall on the Mexican border “soon, way ahead of schedule”.
President Trump vowed to always put American citizens first and build a “great, great border wall”.
He also promised to focus on “getting bad people out of this country”.
Donald Trump was greeted by chants of “USA, USA, USA!” as the president addressed the annual forum in Maryland.
“We’re building the wall,” he said.
“In fact it’s going to start very soon. Way ahead of schedule. It’s way, way, way ahead of schedule.”
Donald Trump’s comments come a day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly met their Mexican counterparts in Mexico City.
Neither made any mention of the wall in February 23 news conference after their closed-door meetings.
Image source Flickr
The wall could cost up to $21.5 billion, according to Reuters, citing a Department of Homeland Security internal report – much higher than Donald Trump’s estimated price tag of $12 billion.
Donald Trump, who has insisted Mexico would later pay for the wall, needs Congressional approval for funding before moving forward with construction.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has said he would not finance Donald Trump’s wall.
On February 24, President Donald Trump also said he was working on a plan to “totally obliterate” ISIS.
“Foreign terrorists will not be able to strike America if they can’t get in to America,” he said.
Donald Trump continued that he “took a lot of heat on Sweden”, referring to his erroneous claim that an attack had recently happened there.
He told the crowd: “I love Sweden… but the people over there understand I’m right.”
President Trump then referred to terrorist attacks in France before telling an anecdote about a friend who used to love travelling to Paris every year, but has stopped because “Paris is no longer Paris”.
One of the loudest rounds of applause came when he emphasized his “America First” outlook.
“Global co-operation, dealing with other countries, getting along with other countries is good,” he said.
“It’s very important.
“But there’s no such thing as a global anthem, a global currency or a global flag.
“This is the United States of America that I’m representing. I’m not representing the globe; I’m representing your country.”
President Trump devoted the first 13 minutes of his speech to criticizing the media and its use of unnamed sources, without saying which stories he was unhappy with.
Relations between the White House and the media hit a new low for his presidency a few hours later.
Reporters from the BBC, The New York Times, CNN and other outlets were excluded from a briefing by the White House press secretary Sean Spicer. No reason was given, but Associated Press and Time magazine boycotted the so-called gaggle in protest.
Donald Trump is the first president to address the group during his first year in office since Ronald Reagan in 1981, according to American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp.
President Donald Trump has announced a “big day” on national security, including an announcement to build a wall on the border between the US and Mexico.
He is expected to sign several executive orders regarding immigration and border security over the next few days.
The executive orders are likely to include the “extreme vetting” of people coming from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa.
This would restrict refugee access.
Donald Trump tweeted on January 24: “Big day planned on national security tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!”
Image source Flickr
Building a 2,000-mile wall along the Mexican border was one of Donald Trump’s key proposals during the presidential election campaign.
There will also be measures that force so-called sanctuary cities in the US to co-operate with the authorities on deporting illegal immigrants.
“Sanctuary cities” are places that don’t arrest or detain immigrants living in the country illegally.
Later this week, Donald Trump is expected to announce immigration restrictions from seven African and Middle Eastern countries, including Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.
President Trump is also likely to halt access to the country for some refugees – until the vetting process can be made more rigorous.
He also took to Twitter to express his concern about the level of violence in Chicago.
Donald Trump threatened to “send in the Feds” – federal authorities – if the city did not “fix the horrible carnage” taking place.
Local media has said that more than 40 people have been murdered and 228 shot so far in 2017.
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