President Trump visits the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas to receive a status briefing directly from the U.S. Border Patrol officers and officials from the Department of Homeland Security. “Where you have a good strong barrier, you don’t have problems,” the president told reporters during his tour. WATCH:
President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Senator John Cornyn, participate in a border security roundtable discussion and Briefing in McAllen Texas.
Joining President Trump and officials from the administration is Reggie Singh, whose brother was police officer Ronil Singh. Ronil “Ron” Singh was gunned down by a suspected illegal immigrant in California.
[Note: This is the full video – we will also post some breakout segments]
President Donald Trump delivers remarks to the press pool as he departs the White House for a visit to the border region in Texas. The majority of the remarks focus on the need for border security and the partial government shutdown.
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[Transcript] South Lawn – 9:32 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: So, we’re going to Texas. We’re going to the border. Just spoke with some of my friends in Arizona. We have tremendous support. The Republicans are extremely united. They all want to see something happen, but they’re extremely united. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen unity like this in the Republican Party.
The media — which I call the “opposition party,” a lot of the media — in coordination with the Democrats, they’re not talking about the Democrats folding. For instance, this morning, a number of people came out and said, “You do need very strong border security, and that includes a wall or whatever it is.” A number of Democrats said that, but people don’t like to report on it. (more…)
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appears on Fox News to give the backstory of the meeting between President Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Vice President Mike Pence, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Senate Majority Whip John Thune describe the events at a White House meeting with President Trump, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Dick Durbin…. Things did not go well:
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It would appear congress is at loggerheads over border security, with democrats unwilling to provide any funding that might secure the southern border. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have stated the border is secure; there are no illegal border crossings actually taking place; and there is no crisis. As such, the partial government shutdown continues. (more…)
White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp discusses the partial government shutdown over the border wall funding and the most recent call by Democrats’ to raise taxes.
President Donald Trump has announced a public address from the Oval Office tomorrow at 9:00pm EST about the current “crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The address comes amid a partial government shutdown caused by Democrat insistence that border barriers are immoral and the Southern border must remain unsecure. CNN is reporting that network executives are debating whether to show the speech; or defer to the requests of their political allies in the Democrat party and refuse to air the broadcast.
President Trump has requested $5 billion to build additional fence/wall on the border and congressional Democrats are refusing to fund any aspect of homeland security that includes a fence or wall.
Additionally, the White House has announced that President Trump is planning a trip to the southern border on Thursday, to highlight the security and humanitarian crisis.
Appearing on Face the Nation, Republican Senator Lindsey ‘Marcus Junius Brutus‘ Graham (U-DC) discusses his bold support for President Trump and the need for a physical border barrier.
Senator Brutus, a beneficiary of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee [think lobbying – example here], connects his support for President Trump’s border position with his concerns about a withdrawal of a U.S. military presence in Syria. Quote: …”the president is slowing down and he is reevaluating his policies”…
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“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.” ~ Cicero
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer appears on Meet The Press to outline how the House will use political theater, with their ally Mitch McConnell, to weaken the border security position of President Donald Trump.
When you accept that Senate Leader McConnell is actually on their team, things begin to make more sense. Democrats are providing cover for their UniParty ally, Mitch, by framing the optic of McConnell allied with President Trump. The entire process is a predictable and well planned insider game of optics and political theater.
Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney outlines how Democrat leadership have dispatched legislative staff to frame optic of negotiations to re-open government; however, it appears the discussions are only intended to further political resistance efforts.
The leadership staff have no authority to actually negotiate, but simply give the impression of negotiations. Pelosi, Hoyer, Schumer and Durbin have a plan to maximize the shutdown for political gains; any border agreement would be adverse to their interests.
