President Trump says he could bypass Congress and declare a national emergency to fund the border wall.
He made the comments during a speech from the Rose Garden Friday.
During that event, he also said an earlier meeting with congressional leadership was productive, and everyone expressed interest in reopening the government.
Congressional leaders will return to the White House Friday for talks to resolve the ongoing government shutdown.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley told reporters the proposed meeting would take place a little before noon on Friday.
• Trump made it clear that he was standing by his request for $5.6 Billion for border wall funding calling it a small price to pay to keep the country safe.
• The president pointed to countries like Israel where he says walls are essential to protecting their borders as examples of why the U.S. needs one.
• They try and make it like its just about the wall and it is about the wall.
Congressional leaders will be at the White House for a briefing on border security.
Senior officials from the Department of Homeland Security will lead Wednesday’s meeting amid calls from Pres. Trump for Democrats to make a deal to fund the government and the border wall. Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D – N.Y.) and House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (D – Calif.) are expected to attend alongside Republican leadership.
FILE – In this Friday, Dec. 21, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump makes a statement on the possible government shutdown before signing criminal just reform legislation in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
President Trump tells congressional Democrats he is ready to make a deal and end the government shutdown.
FILE – In this Oct. 29, 2018, file photo, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, right, speaks as Commander of United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command Gen. Terrence John O’Shaughnessy, left, listens during a news conference in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Another migrant caravan is forming in Honduras and is preparing to head north. According to reports, the group of about 15,000 people is set to leave the Central American country on January 15, 2019. Migrants from El Salvador and Guatemala are expected to join them.
Advocacy groups said the new caravan will likely stay in southern Mexico, where the country’s president has promised them visas and employment.
President Trump is calling on Democrats to fund the border wall. He made the remarks in a tweet Friday morning, adding, the U.S. will be forced to close the southern border entirely if obstructionist Democrats don’t comply. He also blasted the current immigration laws by saying we need to change them.
In another tweet, the president said the U.S. will be cutting off aid to Honduras, Guatemala as well as El Salvador, which he said has done nothing but take money from the U.S.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders is accusing Democrats of caring more about keeping our borders open than our government. During an interview Friday, Sanders criticized Democrats for refusing to budge on the issue of immigration and said they have completely left the negotiation table.
The press secretary said the president has bent over backwards trying to make a deal on border security to put a stop to the human and drug trafficking that’s happening at the southern border.
President Trump is continuing to urge Democrats to end the partisan charade and fund a border wall.
On Twitter Thursday, the president asked, “have Democrats finally realized that we desperately need border security and a wall on the southern border?”
He added, the U.S. needs to “stop drugs, human trafficking, gang members and criminals from coming into our country.”