Trump tries to turn US-Mexico border wall debate back to his advantage
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump is trying to turn the debate over a wall at the US-Mexico border back to his political advantage as his signature pledge to American voters threatens to become a model of unfulfilled promises.
Trump held his first campaign rally since November’s midterm elections in El Paso, Texas, as he faced a defining week for his push on the wall – and for his presidency and his 2020 prospects.
Weakened by the disastrous government shutdown and facing a fresh deadline on Friday, Trump is trying to convince people that he’ll continue to push to build his long-promised wall, even though there’s no way it would be anywhere near complete by the time voters have to decide whether to give him another term.
White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said another shutdown remained on the table, although Trump probably would be willing to compromise over how much of the $5.7 billion (R78bn) for the wall’s construction he’s demanded would be allocated. “Someplace in the middle,” Mulvaney said. Even Trump’s full demand is a fraction of the money he needs to complete the barrier he wants.
It was to be built of concrete and span the length of the border and be paid for by Mexico. Now he’s looking to build “steel slats” along much of the 3 057km stretch, relying on natural barriers for the rest. The amount of federal funding he’s seeking would pay for fewer than 320km.
West Wing aides have acknowledged there is insufficient support among Republicans to sustain another shutdown fight. Still, Trump has publicly dismissed the work of congressional negotiators as a “waste of time” and said he thought Democrats wanted a shutdown to turn attention from the economy and other positive news for his administration.
Trump also continued to threaten to flex his executive powers by trying to unilaterally tap into existing federal dollars to build the wall through a declaration of a national emergency or another presidential action.
Any independent moves would face legal challenges that even Trump’s aides fear will be successful. Still, they reckon it will show Trump as determined to fight for the wall, and figure that voters will blame the courts and Congress rather than the president.
Polls conducted during last month’s shutdown found that more Americans are opposed to a wall.