Trump to hold public address on border
Aims to break stalemate over shutdown
WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump is ramping up his efforts to make a public case for his border wall as the partial government shutdown is now in its third week, planning a prime-time address Tuesday night and a visit to the border Thursday.
Trump announced the news of his presidential address in a Monday tweet.
“I am pleased to inform you that I will Address the Nation on the Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern Border,” he said. “Tuesday night at 9:00 P.M. Eastern.”
Earlier Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced Thursday’s trip to the border.
“President @realDonaldTrump will travel to the Southern border on Thursday to meet with those on the frontlines of the national security and humanitarian crisis,” she said.
The presidential speech and visit come amid the continuing shutdown and Trump’s insistence that any funding bill to reopen federal agencies include US$5.7 billion for his border wall.
Trump made his first visit to the border as president 10 months ago. During that trip, Trump toured 30-foottall steel and concrete prototypes of the border wall in California and strongly condemned jurisdictions that offer “sanctuary” to undocumented immigrants.
The White House on Monday did not immediately release details on the site of Trump’s planned visit. But the Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice that airspace in the McAllen, Texas, vicinity would be restricted on Thursday due to a “VIP movement.”
The border city of 142,000 people is home to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility where migrants who have crossed illegally into the U.S. have been detained.
Trump and congressional Democrats remain at an impasse on crafting a deal to reopen the government, which is in its 17th day of a partial shutdown. Democrats, who retook control of the House last week, have passed measures that would fund the federal agencies affected, but Trump has balked at any legislation that does not meet his demand for wall funding.
Trump has said in recent days that he might seek to unilaterally secure border wall funding by declaring a national emergency, a move that experts say would be of questionable legality.