Trump teases ‘major announcement’ on border, shutdown

Published January 19, 2019 12:41am ET



President Trump teased a “major announcement” coming Saturday about the southern border.

“I will be making a major announcement concerning the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border, and the Shutdown, tomorrow afternoon at 3 P.M., live from the @WhiteHouse,” he wrote on Twitter.

The government has been shut down for nearly a month — the longest in U.S. history — as Democrats and the White House have been unable to reach a deal on Trump’s demands for funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

About 800,000 government employees are furloughed or are working without pay during the last 28 days.

CBS News reported Friday that Trump will lay out a possible deal to end the shutdown during his announcement Saturday. The solution was influenced by discussions between Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to the report. It’s unclear if any Democrats were involved in the discussions.

Trump has floated declaring a national emergency along the border, which would allow him to build the wall without approval from Congress. So far, he has not taken that step.

“I may go that route. I have the absolute right to do national emergency if I want,” he said earlier this month.