BORDER/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday [1-9-19] that he has the ‘absolute right’ to declare a national emergency to force the construction of a border wall, but said he would still prefer to reach a wall-funding deal with lawmakers. Speaking with reporters at the White House during a signing for anti-human trafficking legislation, Trump said he would take a more extreme action if he and Democrats fail to work out an agreement that includes more than $5 billion for physical barriers on the border with Mexico…Trump had repeated his case for a border wall during a prime-time Oval Office address Tuesday [1-8-19] night, where he told several falsehoods tying illegal land border crossings to the nation’s opioid crisis and crime. He did not declare a national emergency during the address amid suspicions that he might, and instead parroted talking points he’s used in the past. During his address, Trump used human trafficking as a justification for the border wall. He continued to argue the correlation during the bill signing.”
–Matthew Choi, “Trump says he has an ‘absolute right’ to declare a national emergency for his border wall,” Politico, January 9, 2019 1:22 pm