On Apr. 2, Trump claimed that he will close the border no matter what happens to the economy—it seems at this point he does not care. The president is determined to deal with the issue that’s been his biggest promise in his administration since it started, a solution to the so-called border problem. He’s pushed and pushed to get his supporters an acceptable solution and for much of his administration, it seems he has been banging his head against his figurative border wall.
From the very first day that Donald Trump announced he was running for president, he has been talking about the border and the wall he would put there. He confidently proclaimed, “I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall.” Well, he never got Mexico to pay for it and that great wall still has not been built. It’s been a talking point for him for the last three years and a serious point of contention. But it just seems to never work out for him.
However, if Trump is anything, it is persistent, as he has certainly tried many times to make his wall a reality. Constantly putting the issue to Congress, even going as far as allowing the government to be shut down for a month (the longest period in U.S. history) in a stand-still, he has been trying to get his wall funded. When he didn’t get the 5 billion dollars that he wanted, he moved on to his next method. Donald Trump decided that he would try to declare an executive national emergency over the border wall. That overwhelming gets shot down initially by the House and the Senate. The president then vetoes and finally starts to see the light with his wall, as Congress does not get enough votes to override his big scary national emergency.
At this point, you would think he would be happy, however he has over fifteen lawsuits against him, an aftermath of the national emergency declaration. All of the money he may get from the Pentagon, which is delaying projects to get this built, is standing on shaky grounds. This plan could all far apart if one of the several lawsuits against him by members of Congress makes headway.
So Donald Trump goes back on the offensive again and makes his most ridiculous attempt yet. If he can get the wall built, he will just cut out the middleman and shut down the whole border entirely. Calling out Mexico, he says, “If Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through (sic) our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border.” He’s quickly becoming backed up into a corner, throwing huge claims left and right. Going to his usual targets, he blames Mexico and the democrats allowing ungodly amounts of illegal immigrants through the border.
Closing the border would have a huge impact as well, nearly two billion dollars worth of goods cross the border everyday and 44% of American-used produce comes from south of the border. Imagine what would happen if the border was closed for just one week!
Trump is searching for more reasons and ways to push his narrative against the evil border that’s been stuck to his presidency. Nothing else is working for him, so he’s willing to go to the extremes and hurt the country’s well-being just to prove a point. He’s trying to show that he can deal with the border problem, even if it takes using the most blunt and ineffective way to do it. The president is constantly proving that he puts his goals above the American people. This move to close the border is no different than the government shutdown—instead of risking all government workers, it risks the entire country.
