President Trump refused to back down from one of his major campaign promises at Camp David on Saturday, assuring a room full of reporters that Mexico will pay for a southern border wall.
“I believe that Mexico will pay for the wall,” the president said, capping the first week in 2018. “I have a very good relationship with Mexico. We’re negotiating NAFTA, see how that goes, yes, but Mexico will pay, in some form, Mexico will pay for the wall.”
Trump: “Mexico will pay, in some form, Mexico will pay for the wall.” pic.twitter.com/CJAgQBVCjp
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 6, 2018
Trump made the border wall a cornerstone of his 2016 presidential campaign, telling voters that Mexico will pay for the wall that will create a physical border between them and the U.S. The Mexican government has long denied any intention of funding such a wall.
A group of bipartisan senators received an immigration plan from the White House on Friday requesting that an additional $18 billion go toward a “border wall system” over the next 10 years. After viewing the document, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin warned a government shutdown is a very real possibility.
The president also went further to push his border wall agenda by attaching it to legislation for the Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals program that protects certain young immigrants from deportation.
Trump: We want DACA but need a wall pic.twitter.com/XYgYDwyjZO
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 6, 2018
“We want the wall. The wall is going to happen, or we’re not going to have DACA,” Trump said. “We want to get rid of chain migration, very important, and we want to get rid of the lottery system. In addition, we want money for funding; we need additional border security.”
