WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s fight for funding for his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall and the partial government shutdown (all times local):
10 a.m.
President Donald Trump says it would be “very surprising” for him not to declare a national emergency if he can’t make a deal with Democrats to pay for his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Trump is telling reporters as he leaves the White House for a Texas border visit that he would prefer to work with Congress on a deal to end the partial government shutdown and is open to compromise but will use his emergency powers to circumvent Congress if they can’t come to agreement.
He said Thursday, “We have to get a win … or I will declare a national emergency.”
He has talked about declaring a national emergency before.
Trump also defends his repeated claims that Mexico will pay for his wall — even when Mexico has said it won’t.
Trump says he “never said they were going to write out a check” and would pay for it indirectly “many, many times over.”
Democrats have called the wall “immoral.”
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12:05 a.m.
President Donald Trump is taking the shutdown battle to the U.S.-Mexico border, seeking to bolster his case for a border wall after the latest negotiations with Democrats blew up over his funding demands.
During his visit Thursday to McAllen, Texas, Trump plans to visit a border patrol station and a section of the border. McAllen is located in the Rio Grande Valley, the busiest part of the border for illegal border crossings.
Trump stalked out of a meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday as efforts to end the shutdown fell into deeper disarray. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers now face lost paychecks on Friday.
The unraveling talks prompted further speculation about whether Trump would declare a national emergency and try to authorize the wall on his own.
