Trump threatens to close border with Mexico and cut aid in Twitter tirade

Donald Trump
World
Friday 28 December 2018 at 2:19pm

Donald Trump has threatened to close the southern border. Credit: AP

President Donald Trump has threatened to close the US border with Mexico if Democrats in Congress do not agree to fund the construction of a border wall.

Trump tweeted on Friday morning that “we will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely” unless a funding deal is reached with “the Obstructionist Democrats”.

In a string of tweets, he also threatened to withdraw aid from the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, claiming the countries are "doing nothing for the United States but taking our money".

Trump’s demand for money to build the border wall and Democrats’ refusal to give him what he wants has caused a partial government shutdown that is nearly a week old.

On Christmas Day appearance he issued a lengthy defence of his desire for a wall, saying it is the only way to stop drugs and human traffickers from entering the US.

In a nod to the political stakes he’s facing, the president said he wants the wall by “election time” in 2020.

A migrant family climbs a border fence into the United States. Credit: AP

The promise of a border wall was a central component of Mr Trump’s presidential campaign.

We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with. Hard to believe there was a Congress & President who would approve! The United States looses soooo much money on Trade with Mexico under NAFTA, over 75 Billion Dollars a year (not including Drug Money which would be many times that amount), that I would consider closing the Southern Border a “profit making operation.” We build a Wall or close the Southern Border. Bring our car industry back into the United States where it belongs. Go back to pre-NAFTA, before so many of our companies and jobs were so foolishly sent to Mexico. Either we build (finish) the Wall or we close the Border. Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are doing nothing for the United States but taking our money. Word is that a new Caravan is forming in Honduras and they are doing nothing about it. We will be cutting off all aid to these 3 countries - taking advantage of U.S. for years!

Congress adjourned for the week without a resolution in sight.

Trump's actions have led to a partial government shut down. Credit: AP

Democrats oppose spending money on a wall, preferring instead to pump the dollars into fencing, technology and other means of controlling access to the border.

Trump argued that Democrats oppose a wall only because he is for one.

The stalemate over how much to spend and how to spend it caused the partial government shutdown that began on Saturday following a lapse in funding for departments and agencies that make up about 25 percent of the US government.

Some 800,000 government workers are affected. Many are still working but must wait until after the shutdown to be paid again.