Trump interview: President says border situation is 'national emergency' as he edges closer to declaration
President takes trip to Texas on 20th day of government shutdown
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has doubled down on his threat to declare a national emergency to free up federal funds to build a wall on a visit to Texas as part of an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity.
When asked how soon it would be before he declare an emergency, the president said "if we don't make a deal with Congress most likely I will do that". Despite the fact any such move would bring legal challenges, Mr Trump said the law is "100 per cent on my side".
He went on to call the situation at the border "a national emergency, if you look what's happening."
Mr Trump did not lay out a specific timetable for when he might take the step of a declaration, saying: “I think we're going to see what happens over the next few days.”
Critics have accused Mr Trump of "manufacturing" a border crisis to try and get the wall as part of a deal to end a partial government shutdown.
Two days after delivering a televised address to the nation to make his case for a wall, and a day after he abruptly left a meeting with Democrats after they refused to pay for one, Mr Trump travelled to the city of McAllen where he signed autographs for supporters and met border agency officials.
As he left the White House for his visit to Texas, Mr Trump again denied throwing a “temper tantrum” during the encounter with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi a day earlier.
At a roundtable meeting with community leaders and officials in McAllen, among them Texas senator Ted Cruz, the president repeated his insistence that a wall would be be built.
“We’re going to build a powerful steel barrier. They said we don’t want a concrete wall. I said that’s okay, we’ll call it a steel barrier,” he said.
“They say this is a manufactured crisis. That’s their new sound bite ... Every network has ‘manufactured crisis’. But it’s not. What’s manufactured is the word ‘manufactured’.”
The president - who has cancelled an upcoming trip to Davos, Switzerland, because of the shutdown - also sought to address those critics who have pointed out he used to repeatedly promise Mexico would pay for any barrier. He claimed without evidence that the terms of a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada will provide the money for the wall.
“When I say Mexico’s going to pay for the wall ... I didn’t say they’re going to write me a check for $10bn or $20bn,” he said. “If Congress approves this trade bill, they’ll pay for the wall many times over. When I say Mexico’s going to lpay for the wall, that’s what I mean”.
To see how events unfolded throughout the day, see our liveblog below
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President Trump has rejected a working outline by small group of Senate Republicans to re-open the government, according to CNN.
The idea would have reopened the government as congressional committees worked through a deal that would have included border wall funding in exchange for temporary safeguards for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and temporary protected status programmes.
The association that represents thousands of FBI agents have warned that the partial government shutdown could cause laboratory delays, reduce money for investigations and make it harder to recruit and retain agents.
The FBI Agents Association sent a petition to the White House and congressional leaders encouraging them to fund the FBI immediately. Friday will be the first day that the nearly 13,000 special agents will miss their paychecks.
"This is not about politics for special agents. For special agents, financial security is national security," Tom O'Connor, the association's president, told reporters in a conference call.
Some more from senior Republican Lindsey Graham:
"I have never been more depressed about moving forward than right now. I just don't see a pathway forward," he said earlier.
I think that reflects the mood in Congress...
The White House has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to look at using emergency funds that Congress approved for disaster relief to build a border wall with Mexico, according to the AP quoting a congressional aide familiar with the matter.
The aide said the $13.9 billion has been allocated but not yet obligated through contracts for a variety of projects in California, Florida, Texas, other states and Puerto Rico, which have experienced hurricanes, wildfires or other natural disasters.
Texas lieutenant governor Dan Patrick has told Donald Trump the state will build a wall along parts of the US-Mexico border if the federal government pays Texas back.
Mr Trump revealed the conversation on his visit to McAllen, Texas, as he pushed for funding for a border wall.
Patrick was with Mr Trump in McAllen. Texas has 1,200 miles of border with Mexico and has the largest sections of border without barriers.
Mr Patrick's office said Texas could build a wall "wherever it is needed," but provided no details such as location or cost.
Mr Trump said Patrick's offer is "not the worst idea I have ever heard," adding, "I still think I could do it cheaper than you."
Chuck Schumer, the leading Democrat in the Senate has been listing reasons for the government to re-open the government all day.
Donald Trump Trump has been consulting with White House attorneys and allies about using presidential emergency powers to take unilateral action to construct the wall over the objections of Congress. He claimed his lawyers told him the action would withstand legal scrutiny "100 per cent."
As Mr Trump arrived in Texas earlier, several hundred protesters near the airport in McAllen chanted and waved signs opposing a wall. Across the street, a smaller group chanted back: "Build that wall!"
Mr Trump is currently on his way to the White House
Away from the shutdown, Mr Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen is set to testify in front of Congress next month.
The government shutdown could soon put the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arm of the Department of Homeland Security at risk of running out of funds and unable to pay contract dues.
"ICE only has a finite amount of money that they had been appropriated and that ended on December 21," Tracey Valerio, the former director of management at ICE told CNN, referring to the date when government funding expired. "If we go much more than a month or so, I would think that the money would run out."
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