Donald Trump to declare national emergency over border wall funding to end government shutdown

President Trump speaks at the Major County Sheriffs and Major Cities Chiefs Association Joint Conference on Wednesday
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Megan White14 February 2019

Donald Trump could declare a national emergency on the southern border of the US in a bid to get funding for his border wall.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the President has indicated he is prepared to sign the government funding bill but could declare an emergency at the same time.

Mr McConnell said that the Senate will soon vote on the bill that's needed to avoid a partial federal shutdown on Friday.

The measure would avoid another government shutdown, but would not include the $5.7 billion Trump wanted for the border wall with Mexico – instead offering just $1.375 billion for 55 miles of fencing.

The President spoke about his border security policy at a conference on Wednesday
Getty Images

Kentucky Republican Mr McConnell told the Senate: "I would say to all my colleagues that he has indicated he's prepared to sign the bill.

“He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time, and I've indicated to him that I'm going to support the national emergency declaration.

“So for all of my colleagues, the President will sign the bill, we will be voting on it shortly."

The row over wall funding is what caused the previous record 35-day shutdown earlier this year, which could have cost the US $3 billion and left 800,000 federal workers without pay.

President Donald Trump's second year in office - in pictures

1/25

Trump’s proposal to declare a national emergency has prompted outrage among Democrats, who think it is “not good for the President to do.”

House majority leader Steny Hoyer told MSNBC: “I think declaring a national emergency where there is no national emergency is not good for the president to do and not good precedent for future presidents.”

Many Trump allies are unhappy with the bill, with Fox host Laura Ingraham labelling the document a “1,169 page monstrosity” and saying it would “green light more “family units” crossing illegally.”

She added: “Remember, @realDonaldTrump signed that #omnibus last year, on promise he’d get his wall funding. They lied to him. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice.

“Folks in Honduras or Guatemala thinking of joining a caravan and are just now hearing about this bill...of course are going to come.”

Controversial commentator Ann Coulter also aired her views on the bill on Twitter, claiming it would “ensure that not a single mile of fence will be built.”

She added: “National emergency won’t help. It’s over if he signs this bill!

“This spending bill is so bad, it reads like a joke the Democrats wrote to humiliate Trump.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in