BORDER/MEXICO/MILITARY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday [12-19-18] said the U.S. military will construct his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, insisting that it will be built ‘one way or the other’ while seemingly walking back threats to shut down the government if Congress fails to appropriate for the wall by the end of the week. Trump also doubled-down on his claim that Mexico is paying for the wall’s construction by virtue of a recently renegotiated trilateral trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. That claim has been met with skepticism by many who have argued increased revenues via international trade do not constitute the president making good on his guarantee that Mexico would pay for the wall…Trump’s flurry of tweets is the latest indicator that the White House has softened its stance on a possible shutdown Friday [12-21-18], a marked difference from the president’s Oval Office meeting with Democratic leaders a week ago, where he declared he would be ‘proud’ to shut down the government if Congress provided anything less than $5 billion in funding specifically for the border wall.”
–Caitlin Oprysko, “Trump insists military will build the border wall,” Politico, December 19, 2018 9:25 am