Trump announces that the military will be 'guarding' the border
President Trump, who once vowed Mexico would pay for his southern border wall and has struggled to secure funding for the structure from Congress, announced Tuesday that he plans to use the military to guard the region until the wall can be built. "Until we can have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military," Trump said. "That's a big step. We really haven't done that before, or certainly not very much before."
Trump has previously proposed dipping into the Pentagon's $700 billion budget to build his wall, after the most recent spending bill set aside just $1.6 billion out of the $25 billion the White House had requested for the project.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.