Trump says he slashed federal funds for Latin American countries to ‘punish’ them for border crossings

Former President Donald Trump has acknowledged his administration slashed federal funds to the northern triangle of Central America as part of an effort to “punish” those countries for an influx of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border during his tenure in the White House. 

Speaking with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Thursday night in response to President Joe Biden’s first press conference since taking office, in which he addressed the rise of migrants arriving at the nation’s southern border, Mr Trump attacked his successor and claimed he was weak on the issue of immigration. 

Mr Trump repeated his claims that countries like Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were sending “criminals” to the US on Thursday, despite reporting indicating the vast majority of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico during his presidency were in fact asylum seekers, women and children. 

Asked about recent comments Speaker Nancy Pelosi made this week about Mr Trump’s decision to withdraw those funds from the region, in which the Democratic leader accused him of cutting the money to “punish” those countries, the former president replied: “Absolutely. That’s right.”

Mr Trump claimed the US was sending $500 million annually to the northern triangle — the region comprised by Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador – while falsely alleging “nobody knew what they were doing with the money.” 

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“They abused us in so many different ways,” he continued. “I stopped paying the $500 million dollars that we were wasting on giving it to them.” 

His comments come amid a seasonal rise in the level of migration throughout the region, though recent figures have shown somewhat of an irregular uptick in the total number of border crossings. 

During his press conference earlier on Thursday, Mr Biden defended his administration from accusations that rise had occurred because he was no longer following the apparent deterrent strategies implemented under Mr Trump, instead taking what some have called a more “compassionate” approach to the issue of immigration. 

“I guess I should be flattered people are coming because I’m the nice guy, that’s the reason it’s happening, that I’m a decent man, or however it’s phrased. That’s why they’re coming, Biden’s a good guy,” Mr Biden said. “I’d like to think [it’s because] I’m a nice guy, but it’s not.”

“It’s because of earthquakes, floods, it’s because of a lack of food,” Mr Biden later continued. “It’s because of gang violence.”

Mr Biden has recently announced he appointed Vice President Kamala Harris to oversee the administration’s work with Latin American countries in addressing the root issues which lead to migration at the US-Mexico border. The White House has released frequent public statements warning migrants against taking the arduous journey throughout the region, noting that changes to the US immigration system have not yet been fully implemented.