Donald Trump says he’ll build wall using emergency powers if need be

Donald Trump doesn’t believe there’ll be a deal over border-wall funding that he could accept and vows he’ll build a wall anyway.

Donald Trump doubts he’ll be able to accept any congressional deal over border wall funding. Picture: AP.

Donald Trump has said he doesn’t believe congressional negotiators will strike a deal over border-wall funding that he could accept and vowed he would build a wall anyway, using emergency powers if need be.

The US President, in an interview, assessed the chances of whether a newly formed group of 17 politicians could craft a deal before the next government funding lapse, in less than three weeks: “I personally think it’s less than 50-50, but you have a lot of very good people on that board.”

He made his comments as hundreds of thousands of federal employees prepared to head back to work today following the President’s move on Saturday to reopen the government after the 35-day partial shutdown, even without funding for his long-promised wall along the border with Mexico.

The 17 politicians have the job of hashing out a longer-term deal on border security and, potentially, broader immigration issues. Both topics are difficult to navigate, just as they were in late December when Mr Trump first refused to sign any spending bills that didn’t include at least $US5.7 billion ($7.9bn) to go toward building a border wall. Asked if he would accept less than $5.7bn in the next round of negotiations, Mr Trump said: “I doubt it,” adding, “I have to do it right.”

Democrats are firmly opposed to the concept of a physical wall, but they have been willing to fund replacement fencing, levees and bollards, in addition to more immigration judges, border agents and technology.

Yesterday, Democratic leaders reiterated that they support border-security measures and would negotiate now that the government is open. “Shutdowns are not legitimate negotiating tactics when there’s a public-­policy disagreement between two branches of government,” Hakeem Jeffries, chairman of the House of Representatives Democratic caucus, told NBC.

BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL! pic.twitter.com/yDdCG5DCxn

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2019

Mr Trump made clear he was sceptical about any deal that trades wall money for a wider immigration overhaul. “I doubt it,” he said, when asked if he would agree to citizenship for immigrants illegally brought to the US as children, known as Dreamers, in exchange for wall funding. “That’s a separate subject to be taken up at a separate time.”

The President last weekend offered three years of temporary protections for Dreamers as part of a broader proposal, but Democrats wanted more permanent protections, including a path to citizenship, for those immigrants.

Mr Trump said he wouldn’t rule out another shutdown, calling it “certainly an option”.

After a shutdown that has been bruising for federal workers and that taxed the wider economy, the White House’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, said workers by the end of the week should receive their first pay cheques in more than a month.

Mr Trump’s comments make it clear that if keeping the government open hinges on the issue of immigration, the path forward will be tricky. Congress has struggled for years to tackle a broader overhaul of the immigration system, and while politicians were hopeful that congress and the White House would be eager to avoid another shutdown, persuading Mr Trump to sign it may remain a separate challenge.

Adding to that challenge for Mr Trump: his leverage on the immigration issue has only diminished since he took office. Republicans, who controlled congress for much of his presidency, lost the house majority in the November elections, and polling shows voters largely blamed Mr Trump for a shutdown that left about 800,000 federal workers without pay.

At the weekend, Mr Trump took heat from some conservative commentators who said he had caved in to Democrats for reopening the government without wall funding. Commentator Ann Coulter, for example, described Mr Trump as a “wimp”. “I hear she’s become very hostile,” Mr Trump said yesterday. “Maybe I didn’t return her phone call or something.”

Now the focus shifts to the politicians tasked with coming to an agreement. Led by Democrat house appropriations committee chairwoman Nita Lowey, the group is expected to hold its first public meeting this week. Any deal would need bipartisan support to advance to a vote before both chambers. None of the politicians are bomb-throwers likely to buck their party’s leaders, who will retain control over the biggest decisions, including the final price tag and whether anything resembling a wall will be funded.

The Wall St Journal