The Democrats have taken over the House. It’s official. The 116thCongress is in session, and to our horror, Nancy Pelosi is speaker again. Without a doubt, it’ll be a period of warfare. It already has begun with this government shutdown, which has entered its 12th day. The Trump White House wants funds for a border wall, fulfilling part of a key campaign promise to enforce our immigration laws and protect the border. The Democrats, taking their new House majority for a spin, aren’t playing ball. Not one cent for the wall is their mantra. And Pelosi said she’s not giving the president any money for a wall.
Today, President Trump all but telegraphed Speaker Pelosi that he’s not budging either. He made a special appearance at the White House briefing, where he congratulated Nancy Pelosi for becoming speaker. The president then gave props to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. He said that he was set to met with the National Border Patrol Council, a federal employee labor union that’s part of the AFL-CIO, and thought it would be nice to come out here and address the press.
Concerning support for his border security agenda, Trump said he’s never seen anything like it.“We need protection in our country,” the president said, promising to make it good. He added that immigration enforcement authorities have apprehended some 17,000 criminals. They’re also topping the flow of drugs into the country.
Brandon Judd, who the president gave warm words to prior to handing over the microphone to him, is the president of the National Border Patrol Council and said that walls work. He’s seen so firsthand during his career as a Border Patrol agent. Judd called the wall an absolute necessity for Border Patrols agents. The various vice presidents also briefly addressed the White House press corps, saying that they have skin in the game, that it’s not about political parties, and that this shutdown impacts all. They voiced their support for Trump’s agenda in protecting our borders.
Trump said that without a wall, you couldn’t have border security. He said that drones, sensors, and others technological tools that some could argue would constitute a virtual wall are good, but they’re not going to stop the physical problem of illegal aliens, some of them cold-hearted criminals, from entering the country.
Trump then thanked the press the left. No questions were taken. The presser lasted less than ten minutes.
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Oh:
MSNBC immediately broke away from the press briefing once actual experts on border security began talking
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) January 3, 2019