A close ally of President Trump once again called on him to declare a state of emergency and redirect money from other federal programs to build the border wall with Mexico.
Trump has publicly toyed with the idea as his impasse with Democrats and resulting government shutdown drags into its third week.
“Mr. President, Declare a national emergency NOW,” . “Build a wall NOW.”
He went on to blame the Democrats for failing to come to the table and make a deal.
“They hate President Trump more than they want to fix problems — even problems THEY acknowledged to be real and serious in the past,” , echoing remarks made by Trump. “Democrats will do everything in their power to stop Trump in 2020.”
Graham failed to mention that his own efforts to broker a compromise fell apart because he couldn’t get the White House on board.
The proposal called for reopening the government in exchange for beginning what would likely become a highly contentious debate over immigration reform and border security in the Senate.
Democrats still feel burned after striking a deal that would have traded $25 billion in spending on the border for an immigration overhaul — an agreement that Trump and his allies ripped up by later insisting on additional Democratic concessions, including sped up deportations and cuts to legal immigration.