Trump’s big announcement on the border wall and government shutdown, which he first sparked speculation about on Twitter on Friday afternoon, including details about the government shutdown and what he is willing to negotiate in exchange for five billion dollars in funding for an unnecessary and ineffective border wall.
He began with his same rhetoric and endless fear-mongering about drug dealers and rapists with which he first began his presidential campaign. He said that his proposal was based on expert opinions (most likely from Fox News) and that he was willing to offer a “common sense compromise” in requesting 800 million in humanitarian assistance, 805 million to strengthen border security, other funding for things like immigration judges and border security officials, three years of protection for DACA recipients, and the restoration of temporary protected status for those who qualified before he took it away, and then demanded his five billion dollar wall in exchange.
It will most likely never happen.
Trump announced his announcement like the reality TV game show host he is, with a “tune in tomorrow” tweet.
His previous “big announcement” about this issue came in the form of a public address in which he really didn’t say anything that everyone didn’t already know, including the numerous lies he had already told prior to that announcement. While everyone expected him to declare a national emergency after two years in office in which he did absolutely nothing to secure his desired border wall funding and hadn’t even spent what he had been given, he instead used the address to request a meeting with Democrats. When he got one, he asked if he was going to get five billion additional dollars for a wall and stormed out when he was told no.
Speculation included guesses that Saturday’s announcement might also include a declaration of a national emergency, but everyone knew it would also include fear-mongering for Trump’s racist base. It isn’t as if that’s a new phenomenon among Trump’s supporters.
