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Trump to send military to Mexican border | Trump to send military to Mexican border |
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President Donald Trump has vowed to send the US military to secure the nation's southern border with Mexico. | President Donald Trump has vowed to send the US military to secure the nation's southern border with Mexico. |
"We are going to be doing things militarily," Mr Trump said at the White House on Tuesday, adding that it would be a "big step". | "We are going to be doing things militarily," Mr Trump said at the White House on Tuesday, adding that it would be a "big step". |
Earlier Mr Trump threatened to cut aid to Honduras amid reports of a "caravan" of asylum seekers heading for the US. | Earlier Mr Trump threatened to cut aid to Honduras amid reports of a "caravan" of asylum seekers heading for the US. |
Both of Mr Trump's predecessors in the White House deployed National Guard troops to help secure the US border. | Both of Mr Trump's predecessors in the White House deployed National Guard troops to help secure the US border. |
President Barack Obama sent hundreds of soldiers to guard the boundary, while President George W Bush deployed thousands of troops to help Border Patrol in what was called Operation Jump Start. | President Barack Obama sent hundreds of soldiers to guard the boundary, while President George W Bush deployed thousands of troops to help Border Patrol in what was called Operation Jump Start. |
During a working lunch with leaders of Baltic countries on Tuesday, Mr Trump told reporters the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) was at risk unless Mexico stopped the flow of migrants. | |
Earlier in the day, he tweeted for the third day about the "caravan" of migrants heading north from Central America. | Earlier in the day, he tweeted for the third day about the "caravan" of migrants heading north from Central America. |
"The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our 'Weak Laws' Border, had better be stopped before it gets there," he tweeted. | "The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our 'Weak Laws' Border, had better be stopped before it gets there," he tweeted. |
"Cash cow Nafta is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen." | "Cash cow Nafta is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen." |
Mr Trump first began tweeting on Sunday about the "caravan" of nearly 1,000 undocumented immigrants, following a Fox News report that used the term. | |
The group, which has been marching along roadsides and railways in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, is being organised by Pueblo Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders). | |
The president has been tweeting about illegal immigration for the last few days, accusing Democrats of allowing "open borders, drugs and crime". | |
This is not the first time that Mr Trump has criticised Honduras, which has been plagued by increasingly deadly unrest since a disputed presidential election last November. | |
During a meeting at the White House in the Oval Office in January, he reportedly referred to the Central American nation as a "shithole". | |
When is Trump going to build his wall? | |
Constructing a "big, beautiful wall" along the Mexican border was a signature campaign promise for Mr Trump, but so far the plan to erect a new physical barrier has been thwarted by lawmakers and appears to have stalled. | |
A major government spending bill which he signed last month to fund the federal government included just $1.6bn in border wall spending. | |
That fell far short of the $25bn the White House had sought - and there were strings attached to the funding Congress did approve. | |
Most of it can only be used to repair stretches of the 1,900 mile (3,100km) border where there already is a wall, not to build new segments. | |
Last month the Pentagon confirmed that Mr Trump held "initial" talks with Defence Secretary James Mattis about using some of Pentagon's budget for constructing the wall. | |
Two Democratic US senators wrote to the Pentagon chief on Monday saying that "the Department of Defense has no legal authority, with or without a reprogramming request, to use appropriated funds for the construction of a border wall". | |
"Such a controversial move could only be funded by cutting other vital priorities for our service members," wrote Senators Dick Durbin and Jack Reed. |