President Donald Trump threatened to “close the Southern border entirely” and cut off aid to struggling Central American countries where violence and crime have forced thousands to flee.
Trump, who refused to sign a spending bill that had been unanimously passed by the Senate, blamed Democrats for the partial government shutdown as it stretched into its seventh day. He threatened to close the Southern border and retaliate against the nations migrants seeking asylum in the United States are fleeing.
“We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with. Hard to believe there was a Congress & President who would approve!” Trump tweeted Friday morning.
“The United States looses soooo much money on Trade with Mexico under NAFTA, over 75 Billion Dollars a year (not including Drug Money which would be many times that amount), that I would consider closing the Southern Border a ‘profit making operation,’” he continued.
“We build a Wall or close the Southern Border,” he threatened. “Bring our car industry back into the United States where it belongs. Go back to pre-NAFTA, before so many of our companies and jobs were so foolishly sent to Mexico. Either we build (finish) the Wall or we close the Border.”
“Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are doing nothing for the United States but taking our money,” he added. “Word is that a new Caravan is forming in Honduras and they are doing nothing about it. We will be cutting off all aid to these 3 countries - taking advantage of U.S. for years!”
Trump administration feels very differently than Trump:
“Trump's threat to cut off aid to Northern Triangle countries is flatly contradicted by recommendations for addressing the migrant crisis from *both* the State Department *and* his own Customs and Border Patrol chief,” The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent pointed out, citing quotes from both.
“In the Trumpist mythology, other countries send us their outcasts and laugh about it. Only Trump is tough enough to end it,” he added. “Thus, his failure to make Mexico pay for the wall isn't a small, tangential broken promise. Trump's vow to do this was a pillar of his entire worldview.”
Fox News sours on wall promise:
Fox News host Julie Banderas declared Wednesday that her 2020 prediction is that “the wall is never going up. Mark my words.”
“If the Republicans don’t give what the Democrats want, the shutdown is going to continue until January," Banderas said, "Then the Democrats take over, then Republicans have no chance of getting the border wall.”
