Donald Trump has told reporters he is considering declaring a national emergency to secure funding to build a border wall between the US and Mexico.
“I may declare a national emergency dependent on what's going to happen over the next few days,” Trump said, following fruitless meetings with Democrats to find a solution to the political stalemate behind a partial government shutdown.
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.
Vice President Mike Pence held a meeting with congressional leaders yesterday, however after the meeting “there was little indication they were getting close to a deal to reopen the government”, CNN says.
The acting budget director Russell Vought did, however, provide more details for the funding request in a letter outlining billions of dollars worth of spending for which the Trump administration is holding out.
It includes $5.7 billion for a “steel barrier”, which Vought described as “a physical infrastructure to provide requisite impedance and denial”, along with a further $800 million to address “urgent humanitarian needs”.
Additionally, the letter calls for $798 million to fund more detention beds, and $571 million for an extra 2,000 law enforcement officers.
The Washington Post says that talks on the weekend to try to end the government shutdown failed in part because the White House “hasn’t been forthcoming about how the money would be used or why the request is for so much more than the administration sought only a few months ago”.
-
Political cartoons for December 6Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a pardon for Hernandez, word of the year, and more
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
-
Codeword: December 6, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes charge
In the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
-
Is Europe finally taking the war to Russia?Today's Big Question As Moscow’s drone buzzes and cyberattacks increase, European leaders are taking a more openly aggressive stance
-
Pushing for peace: is Trump appeasing Moscow?In Depth European leaders succeeded in bringing themselves in from the cold and softening Moscow’s terms, but Kyiv still faces an unenviable choice
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
South Africa wraps up G20 summit boycotted by USSpeed Read Trump has been sparring with South Africa in recent months
-
Trump pushes new Ukraine peace planSpeed Read It involves a 28-point plan to end the war
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
