BORDER/MEXICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “President Donald Trump kept a relatively low profile the day after his State of the Union address, staying silent on Twitter and remaining in Washington on a day when many past presidents have hit the road to amplify their annual speeches. But White House officials and close advisers say that Trump is gearing up to redouble his case for a U.S.-Mexico border wall, including with a planned trip to El Paso next week, where he will make a final case for the $5.7 billion project before parts of the federal government run out of funding again on Feb. 16. Trump’s predecessors have often staged rallies immediately after their State of the Union addresses to milk their moment in the sun. But Trump allies, some of whom have urged him to spend more time outside of Washington making the case for the wall, applauded his planned travel, however delayed..For now, Trump is defying predictions that he would step on his Tuesday night message with rash early-morning tweets and making no new statements about the border wall fight.”
–Nancy Cook, “Trump to make last-ditch wall pitch on U.S.-Mexico border,” Politico, February 6, 2019 4:42 pm