The president describes the process of declaring a national emergency -- and getting sued pic.twitter.com/knUzNxznTI
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 15, 2019
Trump begins in the Rose Garden by talking about the trade negotiations with China. "It's going extremely well. Who knows what that means," he says.
Trump is more correct than usual on the trade deficit with China, saying it's $375 billion (that's the goods-only deficit), then reverts to his eternal lie: "Lots of people think it's $506 billion. Some people think it's much more than that."
Trump is now talking about trade with the United Kingdom. A bit of an odd introduction to an announcement of a national emergency on immigration.
Trump now says there'll be an announcement "in the next 24 hours" on the eradication of ISIS's so-called caliphate.
Trump says he hopes that the second summit with Kim Jong Un has "the same good luck" as with the first one. He wants to be "equally as successful" this time.
Trump: "I look forward to seeing Chairman Kim. We have also established a great relationship. Which has never happened, between him or his family and the United States."
Trump again touts North Korea as a great location for economic development, given its location near China and Russia and South Korea. "Right smack in the middle...phenomenal."
Trump on securing the border: "Not because it was a campaign promise, which it is. It was one of many, by the way. Not the only one." He then boasts about how the stock market is "up tremendously" today. "We have all the records. We have every record." ?
Trump on people who accurately note that most drugs come through ports of entry, not unwalled areas: "It's just a lie. It's all a lie." His own Drug Enforcement Administration says that.
Trump says that the fact El Paso supposedly only has 23 murders and there are 2000 murders "right on the other side of the wall" shows that walls work. There are some causation problems with this logic.
"Three women with tape on their mouth."
Trump is saying stuff.
Trump falsely claims Mexico has "almost 40,000 murders. 40,000."
He initially tweeted the correct number, 33,341, then said "38,000," and now "40,000."
Trump: "I'm going to be signing a national emergency. Annnd: it's been signed many times before...there's rarely been a problem. They sign it, nobody cares."
There has never been an emergency declaration to seize money for a controversial initiative Congress refused to fund.
Trump on "angel moms" whose kids have been killed by illegal immigrants: "It's so sad." He says to someone he says is a "new" angel mom: "Stand up just for a second. Show how beautiful your girl is. Was."
Trump asks another woman to stand up to show a picture of her husband, who he says was killed in Maryland by an illegal immigrant. "Incredible man. Just killed."
Trump reads the official statistic that 70,000 Americans were killed by drugs in 2017, "At least. I think that number is ridiculously low."
Trump, adopting the grammar of a non-native English speaker, says, quoting Xi Jinping, "We give death penalty to people who sell drugs."
Trump is now saying that China does not have a drug problem because it gives the death penalty to drug dealers. China has a drug problem.
Trump on why he's declaring an emergency: "Invasion of drugs, invasion of gangs, invasion of people. And it's unacceptable."
Trump: "In a way, what I did by creating such a great economy, and if the opposing party got in, this economy would be down the tubes." He mocks people who say "the previous administration" had something to do with the good economy. He is rambling hard.
Trump lies that more people are trying to illegally immigrate than "probably" ever before. Apprehensions on the southwest border are a quarter of what they were two decades ago. From http://FactCheck.org :
Trump is simultaneously claiming that he has done an amazing job on border security but that there is a crisis on border security. He says that is because "we haven't been given the equipment. We haven't been given the walls."
Trump says he would have done this earlier, but "I was a little new to the job. A little new to the profession." And he blames other people who "didn't step up."
"We're stepping up now," he says.
"We're right now in construction with wall in some of the most important areas," Trump lies. There is no new wall under construction. Construction on a short stretch of levee wall in the Rio Grande Valley is close to starting.
Trump: "So the order is signed. And I'll signed the final papers as soon as I get into the Oval Office. And we will have a national emergency, and we will then be sued, and they will sue us in the 9th Circuit...and we will possibly get a bad ruling..."
Trump is talking in a singsong list-making voice: "And we will possibly get a bad ruling...and we will end up in the Supreme Court..." He is saying that he will win on this in the Supreme Court as he did on the Muslim-focused travel ban.
Trump says, of a possible legal challenge, that a national emergency is "probably the easiest one to win" in court, "because we're declaring it for virtual invasion purposes: drugs, traffickers, and gangs."
Trump refers to MS-13 members as "gang monsters."
As he does often, Trump gives the first question to Fox News, which asks a legit question about taking away money from other military functions. Trump says "some of the generals think this is more important" than "what they were going to use it for."
Trump says he asked a couple generals what they'd use this money for if Trump didn't emergency-seize it for the wall. He says he can't say what they answered, but "didn't sound too important to me."
Trump says a wall is "very important for the military because of the drugs that pour in." No explanation.
Trump calling on a reporter: "ABC, not NBC. I like ABC a little bit more. Not much."
Trump asked about Republicans who worry about the precedent he'll set for future Dem presidents: "Not too many people have said that. But the courts will determine that." He doesn't directly address the precedent point; repeats that this is "an invasion."
Trump, now addressing the precedent complaint, shrugs it off, saying that there have been "56" previous emergencies, and "that's creating precedent."
Asked about his criticism of Obama not going through Congress on immigration, and whether he failed, he says, "I went through Congress. I made a deal. I got $1.4 billion...but I'm not happy with it."
These questions are all legit and important, but I personally would like Trump to be asked at some point today for the first time about all of the unauthorized immigrants his businesses have hired.
Trump on tariffs: "You're talking to the wrong person, because I happen to like tariffs." He says the U.S. is taking in lots of money "from China"; the tariffs are paid by American importers of Chinese products, not China, though Chinese firms eat some of the cost.
Trump on the USMCA: "By the way...that's where the money's coming from - not directly, but indirectly - for the wall. Nobody wants to talk about that." That's because it's a lie; even if ratified, we don't know how it'll impact the US economy, and it won't pay for any initiative.