With the budget deadline approaching and Democrats refusing to compromise on funding for a border wall, President Trump is promising to secure the border by sending thousands more soldiers in lieu of an actual barrier.
With the Democrats having rejected his “compromise” to build the wall with steel instead of concrete, Trump announced Tuesday that a different kind of material had been chosen.
The president’s tweet comes in the wake of an announcement by the Pentagon last week that 3,750 additional soldiers were being sent to the US-Mexico border, bringing the total number to about 4,300. The troops will remain for at least 90 days while they assist Customs and Border protection, conduct surveillance and install miles of barbed wire fences.
Commenting on the Pentagon’s decision, Trump stated that while a wall would be “soooo much easier and less expensive” than sending troops, the measure was necessary to stop the “Invasion of Illegals” trying to gain entry into the US.
Negotiations between the President’s administration and the Democratic house have remained at a standstill since late last year, over allocating $5.7bn of the state budget toward a border wall. Despite Trump compromising on a temporary budget to end the 35-day government shutdown, no deal seems to be in sight. The president has openly floated the idea of declaring a national emergency to avoid a second shutdown if no deal is reached by February 15.
The topic will likely be on the top of the agenda when Trump delivers the annual State of the Union address on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
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