Donald Trump insists Mexico border wall will be built
The US President denies he’s changed his mind about his campaign pledge - and who will pay for it
Donald Trump has contradicted his own chief-of-staff over claims he is rowing back on a campaign pledge to build a wall along America’s southern border and get Mexico to pay for it.
White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly told Fox News the President’s views on immigration and a border wall had “very definitely changed” after Trump had been briefed on the subjects.
“He has evolved in the way he’s looked at things,” Kelly said. “Campaign to governing are two different things and this president has been very, very flexible in terms of what is within the realms of the possible.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Asked whether Mexico would pay for the wall, Kelly suggested the payment would be indirect.
“We have some ideas on how things like visa fees, renegotiation on Nafta, on what that would mean to our economy. So in one way or another, it's possible that we could get the revenue from Mexico but not directly from their government,” he said.
CNN says Trump was left “fuming” by the interview and immediately hit back with a series of tweets defending his campaign promise.
Sources also told CNN that Kelly told Democratic lawmakers some of Trump’s positions on the border wall were “uninformed”.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
“The mixed messages over where the President stands could complicate the immigration debate raging in Congress as Washington tries to avoid a government shutdown on Friday,” says Vice News.
The central issue is the status of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era immigration program that offered temporary protection to undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children. Also known as Dreamers, they are estimated to number around 800,000.
Trump ended legal protection for Dreamers last year, giving Congress until March to create a replacement programme. Last week, he rejected a compromise by three Democratic and three Republican senators to restore protection in return for allocating money for the wall and other security measures.
Now Democrats, at least some of whom Trump needs to avoid a federal shutdown, have signalled they will not vote for a new government spending bill without some version of DACA.
-
No Kings rally: What did it achieve?Feature The latest ‘No Kings’ march has become the largest protest in U.S. history
-
Chicago: Scenes from a city under siegeFeature Chicago is descending into chaos as masked federal agents target people in public spaces and threaten anyone who tries to document the arrests
-
Push for Ukraine ceasefire collapsesFeature Talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were called off after the Russian president refused to compromise on his demands
-
Trump eyes regime change in VenezuelaFeature Officials believe Trump’s ‘war on narco-terrorism’ is actually a push to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
‘Social media is the new tabloid’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How are ICE’s recruitment woes complicating Trump’s immigration agenda?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Lowered training standards and ‘athletically allergic’ hopefuls are hindering the White House plan to turn the Department of Homeland Security into a federal police force
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
Donald Trump’s week in Asia: can he shift power away from China?Today's Big Question US president’s whirlwind week of diplomacy aims to bolster economic ties and de-escalate trade war with China

