BORDER/CENTRAL AMERICA/FOREIGN AID/MEXICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump said on Friday [3-29-19] that there would be a ‘very good likelihood’ that he would seal off the United States border with Mexico next week, even as he moved to punish Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador for migrant caravans by cutting off all foreign aid to the countries. The moves escalated a sustained berating of countries he blames for being unable to stop the flow of migrants trying to make their way north…At Mr. Trump’s direction, the State Department on Friday began the process of informing Congress that it intended to end the foreign aid. A person with knowledge of the decision said that Mr. Trump met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday, after which diplomats were directed to begin the process of cutting off the funds by drafting letters to lawmakers. Mr. Trump publicly said as much on Friday in comments to reporters…The State Department issued a statement late on Friday saying: ‘At the secretary’s instruction, we are carrying out the president’s direction and ending FY 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle. We will be engaging Congress as part of this process.’ Mr. Trump has threatened to close off the border and cut off aid to the three countries — known as the Northern Triangle — several times before and has not followed through.”
–Katie Rogers, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Michael D. Shear, “Trump Directs State Dept. to End Aid to 3 Central American Countries,” The New York Times online, March 29, 2019