Spokesman: Trump seeks 20% tax on Mexican imports for wall

PHILADELPHIA >> President Donald Trump called on fellow Republicans to help him enact “great and lasting change” at a party retreat Thursday.

Later his spokesman said the president will seek a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports to pay for a wall. Congressional approval would be needed.

The president was greeted by cheers as he took the stage in a hotel ballroom, telling senators and House members, “This Congress is going to be the busiest Congress in decades — maybe ever.”

He addressed lawmakers shortly after Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a trip to DC next week due to their disagreement over which of their countries would pay to build Trump’s promised wall on the border between them.

The wall is part of Trump’s plan to halt illegal immigration to the U.S., and he has long insisted that Mexico will pay. Pena Nieto insists his country will not.

Smoke rises after Bangladeshi policemen fire tear gas shells to disperse protesters demanding cancellation of a plan for a massive coal-fired power plant near ecologically sensitive mangrove forests on the coast in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Thursday. The government insists that the planned 1.3-gigawatt Rampal power station near the Sundarbans, a world heritage site, is key to reaching its target of 24 gigawatts of electrical capacity by 2021.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Smoke and protest amid plans for a coal plant: