President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he will have the U.S. military “build the remaining sections” of the Southern border wall, threatening to use Pentagon funds and the Army corps of engineers, to finish the job.
President Trump threatened Tuesday to have the military “build the remaining sections” of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, appearing to revive a call to use Pentagon money to finish the project ahead of a meeting with congressional Democratic leaders opposed to the president’s funding request.
“People do not yet realize how much of the Wall, including really effective renovation, has already been built. If the Democrats do not give us the votes to secure our Country, the Military will build the remaining sections of the Wall. They know how important it is!” the President tweeted on Tuesday, before a planned oval office meeting with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer released a joint statement Monday arguing that President Trump and Republicans will own a government shutdown if they can’t reach a deal.
“Republicans still control the House, the Senate and the White House, and they have the power to keep government open,” the statement said. “Our country cannot afford a Trump Shutdown,” they continued, adding that the “President Trump knows full well that his wall proposal does not have the votes to pass the House and Senate and should not be an obstacle to a bipartisan agreement.”
Congress avoided a shutdown last week during the funeral proceedings for President George H.W. Bush, moving the deadline to Dec. 21. Trump met with Pelosi and Schumer on Tuesday at the White House to sell a new government spending bill – in which funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall would be included.
President Trump is seeking $5 billion dollars for the wall, while Democrats have only offered a total of $1.3 billion for “border security.”
President Trump previously pushed for the military to fund and build the border wall.
In a tweet early Tuesday morning, President Trump said that portions of wall and fencing in place persuaded migrant caravans to turn back and go home.
He added that Nancy Pelosi is holding up funding for his wall to secure votes to be Speaker of the House in January.
“We have already built large new sections & fully renovated others, making them like new. The Democrats … however, for strictly political reasons and because they have been pulled so far left, do NOT want Border Security. They want Open Borders for anyone to come in. This brings large scale crime and disease,” President Trump tweeted.
“Our Southern Border is now Secure and will remain that way … I look forward to my meeting with Chuck Schumer & Nancy Pelosi. In 2006, Democrats voted for a Wall, and they were right to do so. Today, they no longer want Border Security. They will fight it at all cost, and Nancy must get votes for Speaker. But the Wall will get built.”