Border wall crisis: Trump mulls building ‘steel barrier’
WASHINGTON:US President Donald Trump is standing firm on his demand for $5 billion for a wall along the border with Mexico, but he has now said that it would be a “steel barrier” instead of a “concrete” one as the partial government shutdown caused by a stalemate on its funding entered the 17th day.
Calling his negotiations on Sunday with the Democrats “productive”, the US president wrote on Twitter later in the evening, “We are now planning a Steel Barrier rather than concrete. It is both stronger & less obtrusive. Good solution, and made in the USA.”
The office of management and budget of the White House has conveyed the change of plan in a letter to the US Congress.
It also said in the letter that the $5 billion sought would only fund 234 miles of the nearly 2,000-mile US-Mexico border.
But Democrats have said there was no effective movement in the talks.
As the stalemate, which started on December 22 last year, continues, making this the thirdlongest US government shutdown, the US president has also indicated he might use his powers to declare a national emergency to fund the barrier, which he is allowed to do, by moving money from the defence budget meant for construction projects.
He has also insisted that he prefers to find a solution through negotiations.
“Let’s get our deal done in Congress!” Trump tweeted in response to a remark from Adam Smith, the new chairman of the House armed services committee. The funding stalemate has shut down a fourth of the federal government, impacting 800,000 employees, who are either furloughed or working without pay.