Trump interview: President says border situation is 'national emergency' as he edges closer to declaration
President takes trip to Texas on 20th day of government shutdown
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Donald Trump has doubled down on his threat to declare a national emergency to free up federal funds to build a wall on a visit to Texas as part of an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity.
When asked how soon it would be before he declare an emergency, the president said "if we don't make a deal with Congress most likely I will do that". Despite the fact any such move would bring legal challenges, Mr Trump said the law is "100 per cent on my side".
He went on to call the situation at the border "a national emergency, if you look what's happening."
Mr Trump did not lay out a specific timetable for when he might take the step of a declaration, saying: “I think we're going to see what happens over the next few days.”
Critics have accused Mr Trump of "manufacturing" a border crisis to try and get the wall as part of a deal to end a partial government shutdown.
Two days after delivering a televised address to the nation to make his case for a wall, and a day after he abruptly left a meeting with Democrats after they refused to pay for one, Mr Trump travelled to the city of McAllen where he signed autographs for supporters and met border agency officials.
As he left the White House for his visit to Texas, Mr Trump again denied throwing a “temper tantrum” during the encounter with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi a day earlier.
At a roundtable meeting with community leaders and officials in McAllen, among them Texas senator Ted Cruz, the president repeated his insistence that a wall would be be built.
Who could be running against Trump in 2020?
Show all 23“We’re going to build a powerful steel barrier. They said we don’t want a concrete wall. I said that’s okay, we’ll call it a steel barrier,” he said.
“They say this is a manufactured crisis. That’s their new sound bite ... Every network has ‘manufactured crisis’. But it’s not. What’s manufactured is the word ‘manufactured’.”
The president - who has cancelled an upcoming trip to Davos, Switzerland, because of the shutdown - also sought to address those critics who have pointed out he used to repeatedly promise Mexico would pay for any barrier. He claimed without evidence that the terms of a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada will provide the money for the wall.
“When I say Mexico’s going to pay for the wall ... I didn’t say they’re going to write me a check for $10bn or $20bn,” he said. “If Congress approves this trade bill, they’ll pay for the wall many times over. When I say Mexico’s going to lpay for the wall, that’s what I mean”.
To see how events unfolded throughout the day, see our liveblog below
Please allow a moment for the liveblog to load
Donald Trump is refuting claims from Democrats that he angrily left the White House meeting with congressional leaders over the government shutdown.
In a tweet he has used his nickname for Democrat Senate leader Chuck Schumer - or Cryin' Chuck. Mr Schumer said after the meeting that the president had had a "temper tantrum".
Mr Trump is heading to visit the southern border in Texas later today, but a Democrat representative from the state said that his party will challenge the president in "every way" if he declares a national emergency and directs the military to build his wall without gaining the approval of Congress.
“We will challenge him in every way we can,” Representative Joaquin Castro said during an appearance on CNN. “We’ll challenge him here in Congress. We’ll challenge him in the courts. We’ll challenge him on the streets in protests. We’ll do everything that we can to push back on what the president does if he does declare a national emergency.”
Mr Trump is due to appear on the south lawn of the White House any minute now...
While we wait, Mr Trump's visit to McAllen, Texas, will include a visit to a border patrol station, a roundtable discussion on immigration and border security and a security briefing.
The area of the border that Mr Trump will be visiting is part of the district represented by Democrat Henry Cuellar - he has said there is no "crisis" at the border during an interview this morning.
Mr Trump has begun speaking with journalists in Washington.
He has said:
- the US is having "tremendous success" with China on trade
- a planned trip to Davos is still on, for now - but he will not go if the shutdown continues
On whether he will declare a national emergency over the border situation - potentially a way of funding the wall without Democrats' approval - Mr Trump has said he will do so "maybe, definitely", if negotiations with his opponents do not work out, according to reports.
During the press conference Mr Trump has again denied throwing a "tantrum" during his meeting with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday.
"I didn't pound the table. That is a lie. I don't have temper tantrums," the president reportedly said.
Here is the key line from Mr Trump's press conference.
He has claimed he never meant that Mexico would "write a cheque" and directly pay for the border wall.
Here is video of Trump's remarks outside the White House.
The president is on his way to Andrews Air Force Base, from where he will fly to Texas aboard Air Force One.
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