World
Donald Trump Says He Is Ready To Send As Many Troops Necessary To Stop Migrant Caravan
Trump has even made unsubstantiated charges that Democrats had funded the migrants
US President Donald Trump said during an interview with USA TODAY aboard the Air Force One on Monday that he is willing to send as many numbers of troops as required to the border to halt the growing migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. border. According to the United Nations, the Central American migrants traveling via caravan are estimated to be over 7,200 in number.
The President called their trek as an assault on the United States. He has made the issue central to the upcoming midterm elections in Congress. He has even made unsubstantiated charges that Democrats had funded the migrants.
“I think this could be a blessing in disguise because it shows how bad our laws are,” Trump said. “The Democrats are responsible for that.”
He added that the country needs to build a wall fast in order to stop the growing influx of migrants.
When asked how many troops he was prepared to send to the border, he said as many required.
“As many as necessary,” he replied.
Meanwhile, addressing a political rally in Houston, Texas, Trump repeated his claim the caravan has “some very bad people in it.” He had previously asserted that the migrant caravan includes “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners mixed in.” However, he declined to say if his claims are based on intelligence agencies or some other source.
In one of three tweets posted on Monday morning, the President warned that the government will begin cutting off, or substantially reducing aid to three Central American nations over their failure to control the migrant caravan heading to the U.S. southern border. The US reported granted a combined funding of more than $500 million to the three countries in fiscal year 2017.
“Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S,” he said.
