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US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-TRUMP-MEXICO-LEAD
Trump insists on steel wall with Mexico in prime-time speech
WASHINGTON, Jan 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump used a prime-
time address to the nation Tuesday to insist on $5.7 billion for a steel wall
along the Mexican border that he said would stop the shedding of “American
blood” by illegal immigrants.
The nine-minute speech from the storied Oval Office in the White House
contained no concessions to Democrats refusing to fund wall construction.
It also offered no hope for a quick end to a government partial shutdown
triggered by the row that has left 800,000 federal employees without pay.
However Trump did steer away from earlier predictions that he might
announce a national emergency, which would have given him the power to
authorize the wall project without congressional approval.
Trump spoke in an unusually measured voice, apparently hoping to claim the
moral high ground, and said he wanted to end the partisan divide in what has
become a defining battle of his presidency.
“I have invited congressional leadership to the White House tomorrow to get
this done. Hopefully, we can rise above partisan politics in order to support
national security,” he said. “This situation could be solved in a 45-minute
meeting.”
Despite that softer tone, Trump also spent much of the speech doubling down
on his controversial message that illegal immigration along the US-Mexican
border is above all a threat to the lives of Americans.
He listed gruesome examples of crimes committed by illegal immigrants,
including a “beheading and dismembering,” and said he would “never forget the
pain” of survivors he’d met.
“How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job?
For those who refuse to compromise in the name of border security, I would
ask to imagine if it was your child, your husband, or your wife whose life
was so cruelly shattered and totally broken,” he said.
That, to opponents, is at best fearmongering for political purposes — or
race baiting at worst.
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in her instant rebuttal speech that the
real problem was Trump’s “cruel and counter-productive policies” making the
border ever more dangerous for vulnerable migrants, including young families.
Trump has said he will not sign spending bills funding swaths of government
unless Democrats first agree to his wall. His speech showed no indication of
giving way.
Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, said that meant Trump
is “holding the American people hostage.”
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, accused Trump of
governing “by temper tantrum” and using government workers “for leverage.”
– Not budging –
There had been speculation that Trump might give way, for example lowering
the sticker price for the wall, or offering Democrats flexibility on other
areas of immigration policy.
However, it was also significant that he did not announce a national
emergency, which would have theoretically given him the right to charge ahead
alone, getting the money from the military.
Democrats and some Republicans had warned that this would be seen as a
dangerous escalation of the row and would be challenged in court.
Despite those warnings, Trump and his aides repeatedly floated the
possibility in the run-up to the address, which was Trump’s first ever from
the Oval Office.
“He’s not saying yes or no,” top advisor Kellyanne Conway told journalists
at the White House a few hours earlier. He’s “considering it,” she added.
– Historic stage –
The Oval Office has witnessed many historic announcements, ranging from
George W. Bush’s reaction to the 9/11 attacks to John F. Kennedy’s televised
appearance at the height of the Cuban missile crisis.
Trump’s gambit was that the solemn setting will allow him to regain the
momentum on the Mexico wall issue that helped him get elected in 2016 and has
become an obsessive goal for supporters.
He will follow up with a rare trip to the Mexico border itself on Thursday.
But with many Americans far from sold on Trump’s lurid claims about illegal
immigrants posing an overwhelming safety threat, the speech faced its own
high barrier: credibility. – Not all eyes on president –
While political junkies were fixated on the policy issues in the standoff,
others took a rather less decorous view of the proceedings.
Betting site bookmaker.eu was offering odds for wagers on whether Trump
would lie during his speech, declare a national emergency or end the
government shutdown by January 18.
And Stormy Daniels, the pornographic film performer and stripper famous for
claiming she was paid off to keep quiet about an affair with Trump, proposed
another way to keep entertained.
“If you’re looking for anything even remotely worth watching tonight at 9pm
EST, I will be folding laundry in my underwear for 8 minutes on Instagram
live.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/ 0932 hrs