In an interview yesterday, Trump called bipartisan negotiations “a waste of time” and said he’s “set the stage” to declare a national emergency.
Trump: “If she doesn’t approve a wall, the rest of it’s just a waste of money and time and energy because it’s, it’s desperately needed.”
Trump: “I’ve set the table. I’ve set the stage for doing what I’m going to do.”
Trump: “I think it’s a waste of time.”
At a White House event earlier in the day yesterday, Trump said that he would declare a national emergency if he did not get his wall.
Question: “Mr. President, will you declare a national emergency if there’s no money for the wall?”
Trump: “I would do that. I would do that.”
The White House released its National Drug Control Strategy, which does not mention the need for a border wall to combat drug trafficking.
New York Times’ Julie Davis: “White House just released Nat’l Drug Control strategy & it does not once mention wall/physical barrier as a means of combating drug trafficking. Talks about need for better air & maritime monitoring, improved interdiction of drugs sent thru mail/‘express consignment carriers’”
Trump’s top intelligence chiefs indicated earlier this week that the border wall is not a national security necessity.
New York Times: “Perhaps the strongest rebuke of Mr. Trump’s security priorities comes in what is missing from the threat assessment: any rationale for building a wall along the southwestern border, which Mr. Trump has advertised as among the most critical security threats facing the United States. The first mention of Mexico and drug cartels comes on Page 18 of the 42-page report, well after a range of other, more pressing threats are reviewed.”