WASHINGTON, Apr 26: US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed his commitment to build a wall along the Mexico border amid reports that his plan may be halted to avoid a government shutdown.
“The wall is going to get built, by the way,” Trump told reporters at the White House yesterday.
The comments came after reports that the Republican Party was having second thoughts about the wall as part of its strategy to avoid a government shutdown.
Trump’s insistence on funding to start construction had jeopardised the spending bill.
“Just in case anybody has any question, the wall is going to get built, and the wall is going to stop drugs, and it’s going to stop a lot of people from coming in that shouldn’t be here, and it’s going to have a huge effect on human trafficking, which is a tremendous problem in this world, a problem that nobody talks about, but it’s a problem that’s probably worse than any time in the history of this world,” he said.
He said the wall was going to get built, and his administration is setting record numbers in terms of stopping people and drugs from coming in the US which has gone down by 73-74 per cent.
Trump said that US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has told him the country definitely needs a wall.
“I was just with him a little while ago, and he said we definitely, desperately need the wall. And we’re going to have the wall built. I don’t know why people are talking. I watch these shows, and the pundits in the morning. They don’t know what they’re talking about. The wall gets built, 100 per cent,” the president said.
The White House also insisted that there has been no change in the position when it comes to building the wall.
“The president made it very clear his priorities have not changed. There will be a wall built. It’s important to prevent human trafficking, gangs like MS-13 from coming into the country, the flow of illegal drugs, illegal immigration,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.
“There is a national economic and safety issue by having a wall that ensures our country’s safety, and there’s plenty of planning that can be done in FY17. We’re going to continue, our priorities are clear going into FY17, the remainder of budgeting for that. And we’ll continue to ask for more in FY18,” he said. (PTI)
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