Trump threatens to declare a national emergency to finance the wall

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump threatened today to declare a national emergency to order the construction of a border wall with Mexico without the need for approval of funds by Congress.

“I can do it if I want,” Trump said at a press conference when asked about that possibility to start building the wall without the approval of Congress, due to the refusal of the Democrats to approve the funding for the wall.

The president made this statement to reporters in the White House after meeting with the Democratic leaders of Congress to discuss the partial closure of the Administration, which has lasted two weeks and which maintains a quarter of the government paralyzed.

“We could call a national emergency because of the security of our country. Absolutely. No, we could do it. I haven’t done it. I may do it. I may do it. But we could call a national emergency and build it very quickly and it’s another way of doing it. But if we can do it through a negotiated process, we’re giving that a shot,” Trump argued.

The Administration is partially closed since last December 22 because the negotiation between Republicans and Democrats in Congress was blocked by Trump’s demand that the budget must include more than 5,000 million dollars to finance the wall.

Trump’s unwavering attitude towards the construction of the wall, which was one of his star electoral promises, and the continued refusal on the part of the Democrats to agree on this issue, has led the Government to be partially closed for 14 days and counting.