The following article by Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey was posted on the Washington Post website June 15, 2018:
President Trump told reporters June 15 that he hates “to see separation of parents and children,” but that “Democrats forced that law upon our nation.” (AP)
President Trump has calculated that he will gain political leverage in congressional negotiations by continuing to enforce a policy he claims to hate — separating immigrant parents from their young children at the southern border, according to White House officials.
On Friday, Trump suggested he would not change the policy unless Democrats agreed to his other immigration demands, which include funding a border wall, tightening the rules for border enforcement and curbing legal entry. He also is intent on pushing members of his party to vote for a compromise measure that would achieve those long-standing priorities. Continue reading “Trump cites as a negotiating tool his policy of separating immigrant children from their parents”