On Saturday, President Trump sent out two tweets slamming political commentator and author Ann Coulter:
Wacky Nut Job @AnnCoulter, who still hasn’t figured out that, despite all odds and an entire Democrat Party of Far Left Radicals against me (not to mention certain Republicans who are sadly unwilling to fight), I am winning on the Border. Major sections of Wall are being built…
…and renovated, with MUCH MORE to follow shortly. Tens of thousands of illegals are being apprehended (captured) at the Border and NOT allowed into our Country. With another President, millions would be pouring in. I am stopping an invasion as the Wall gets built. #MAGA
Coulter was previously a champion of the president, even writing a book prior to his election titled, “In Trump We Trust.” However, her position on Trump has soured over the course of his first two years in office due to his failure to keep his signature promise, which was the construction of a wall along the southern border of the United States.
On Friday, Coulter tweeted: “Proposed topic for next week’s column: Does Trump Want to Stop the Invasion?” This might have been the reason for the president’s tweet against Coulter.
On January 25, following a government shutdown that lasted a record 35 days, President Trump signed a spending bill that would fund the government for three weeks. On February 15, the president signed another spending bill that provided just $1.375 billion for border security, more than $4 billion shy of his prior demands.
Trump then declared a national emergency, allowing him to pull approximately $8.1 billion in funding from various agencies and programs, and allocate it to the border.
A White House press release detailed where the money would come from:
About $601 million from the Treasury Forfeiture Fund.
Up to $2.5 billion under the Department of Defense funds transferred for Support for Counterdrug Activities (Title 10 United States Code, section 284).
Up to $3.6 billion reallocated from Department of Defense military construction projects under the President’s declaration of a national emergency (Title 10 United States Code, section 2808).
The House of Representatives voted to block Trump’s emergency declaration in a 245-182 vote in late-February, and the Senate is expected to challenge it in the coming week. However, the president has indicated that he will veto that challenge.
Upon announcing the declaration, Trump said he expected to be “sued,” but countered by claiming that the United States is subject to “an invasion of drugs and criminals coming into our country,” which is difficult to stop without a physical barrier. “With a wall, it would be very easy,” he stated. “So I think that we will be very successful in court.”
On Sunday, Reuters reported that Trump is allegedly planning to ask “for an additional $8.6 billion” in his 2020 budget for further border barrier construction.
The funding “would include $5 billion from the Department of Homeland Security budget and $3.6 billion from the Pentagon’s military construction budget.” Additionally, the “budget proposal will also include another $3.6 million in military construction funding to make up for any projects delayed by the wall, officials said,” according to Reuters.
Because the House of Representatives is under Democratic control, the possibility of passing such a budget is essentially zero. The president’s reported request could drive another budget showdown later this year.