BORDER/MEXICO/TERRORISM/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump said on Tuesday [12-11-18] that U.S. authorities had ‘caught 10 terrorists,’ citing it as a reason for why the United States should build a wall on its Mexican border, but four government sources said there was no recent evidence of terrorism suspects being caught along the border. A senior U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said: ‘We do not have evidence of known or suspected foreign terrorist organizations trying to infiltrate the southern U.S. border.’ Three national security officials agreed with that view, saying they knew of no recent border-related arrests. The three officials also asked not to be identified. In a contentious White House meeting on Tuesday with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, Trump demanded $5 billion in taxpayer funding for his wall, threatening a federal shutdown if he did not get the money.”
–Reuters, “No Evidence for Trump Claim on ‘Terrorists’: Government Sources,” The New York Times online, December 12, 2018