Trump suggests US military foot the bill for border wall

[Rogue Valley]

Trump suggests US military foot the bill for border wall

Donald J. Trump ✓
@realDonaldTrump
Because of the $700 & $716 Billion Dollars gotten to rebuild our Military, many jobs are created and our Military is again rich.
Building a great Border Wall, with drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country, is all about National Defense.
Build WALL through M!
3:33 AM - 25 Mar 2018

By Eli Watkins, Jeremy Diamond and Elizabeth Landers
March 27, 2018

President Donald Trump has privately floated the idea of funding construction of a border wall with Mexico through the US military budget in conversations with advisers, two sources confirmed to CNN Tuesday. Trump discussed the idea in a private meeting last week with House Speaker Paul Ryan, a source familiar with the conversations said, as he reviewed the omnibus spending bill, which does not include funding for construction of a border wall. It was not immediately clear how serious Trump was about pursuing this option, but the move would likely face steep hurdles with appropriators in Congress. The idea is Trump's latest attempt to find a way to build the border wall he promised supporters during his campaign as Mexico has dismissed his call for Mexico to fund its construction. Trump has said he would seek that payment in the form of a refund, either through trade negotiations, remittance payments or other means.

Congressional budgeting is done with very specific instructions for how dollar amounts are spent. Any repurposing of funds requires express congressional approval, which Trump is unlikely to get. The source noted that additional authorization from Congress would likely be necessary if this option was pursued. A senior administration official confirmed the President has floated this idea, along with others, as alternative ways to pay for the wall. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders declined to weigh in when asked repeatedly on Tuesday at the daily press briefing about trying to get the military to fund the wall. However, no new wall is currently being built. Funds have only been appropriated to fix current fencing or build new fencing. Two White House officials told the Post that Trump saw the increased funding for the military as a reason it could afford to foot the bill for the border wall. The omnibus agreement Trump signed into law last week included about $1.6 billion for border security. Since taking office, the Trump administration has tried to demand Congress appropriate money for his promised wall, and the Mexican government has steadfastly refused to pay for it.

Trump obviously considers the United States as his personal fiefdom where he can shuffle appropriated money around any way he likes.

Related: Trump pushing Pentagon to pay for border wall: report

 

[BitterPill]

Trump suggests US military foot the bill for border wall

Donald J. Trump ✓
@realDonaldTrump
Because of the $700 & $716 Billion Dollars gotten to rebuild our Military, many jobs are created and our Military is again rich.
Building a great Border Wall, with drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country, is all about National Defense.
Build WALL through M!
3:33 AM - 25 Mar 2018



Trump obviously considers the United States as his personal fiefdom where he can shuffle appropriated money around any way he likes.

Related: Trump pushing Pentagon to pay for border wall: report

We won't need all those tanks and soldiers or even a Pentagon if we have a big wall.

Drain the swamp!

 

[Kal'Stang]

Trump suggests US military foot the bill for border wall

Donald J. Trump ✓
@realDonaldTrump
Because of the $700 & $716 Billion Dollars gotten to rebuild our Military, many jobs are created and our Military is again rich.
Building a great Border Wall, with drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country, is all about National Defense.
Build WALL through M!
3:33 AM - 25 Mar 2018



Trump obviously considers the United States as his personal fiefdom where he can shuffle appropriated money around any way he likes.

Related: Trump pushing Pentagon to pay for border wall: report

Shuffling money around is what all politicians (and corporate CEO's) do all the time. :shrug: For instance social security money is often used to pay for other things that are not even related to social security. So shuffling money is really nothing new in the political sphere. Never bothered anyone before. Why should it now?

Only problem I see is that, besides the obviousness of a wall itself, is that its one thing to shuffle money from one approved building project to another approved building project. It may be quite another to shuffle money to an unapproved building project. Not sure if the Presidency has that kind of power? Depends on how its couched/spun I'd imagine. For instance there might be a valid argument to do this if it's tied to national security.

 

[Floridafan]

Shuffling money around is what all politicians (and corporate CEO's) do all the time. :shrug: For instance social security money is often used to pay for other things that are not even related to social security. So shuffling money is really nothing new in the political sphere. Never bothered anyone before. Why should it now?

Only problem I see is that, besides the obviousness of a wall itself, is that its one thing to shuffle money from one approved building project to another approved building project. It may be quite another to shuffle money to an unapproved building project. Not sure if the Presidency has that kind of power? Depends on how its couched/spun I'd imagine. For instance there might be a valid argument to do this if it's tied to national security.

Trumps wall has nothing, zero, to do with national security. You Trump fans are having wet dreams.

 

[Kal'Stang]

Trumps wall has nothing, zero, to do with national security. You Trump fans are having wet dreams.

I made a promise in another thread to try and stop posting hateful comments. As such I will restrain myself and instead say this:

Please re-read what I said. Please pay special attention to the bolded:

Only problem I see is that, besides the obviousness of a wall itself, is that its one thing to shuffle money from one approved building project to another approved building project. It may be quite another to shuffle money to an unapproved building project. Not sure if the Presidency has that kind of power? Depends on how its couched/spun I'd imagine. For instance there might be a valid argument to do this if it's tied to national security.

I am not a fan of the wall idea. Haven't been in a VERY long time after I learned more about it. I believe that there are better ways to solve our illegal immigration problem. What I said was not an endorsement of Trump or his plan to build a wall. I was trying to be neutral. Things in government are spun all the time even when its obvious what it is the politicians really want to do. For instance when the GOP puts major restrictions on abortion providers "in the name of safety" you know darn well that it has nothing to do with safety and instead has everything to do with attempting to ban abortion.

 

[Rogue Valley]

Trump siphoning $25 billion from our "depleted military" (Trumps own words) to fund his pet political project would be a PR disaster.

I can see the Democrat campaign ads now.

 

[tres borrachos]

Trump suggests US military foot the bill for border wall

Donald J. Trump ✓
@realDonaldTrump
Because of the $700 & $716 Billion Dollars gotten to rebuild our Military, many jobs are created and our Military is again rich.
Building a great Border Wall, with drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country, is all about National Defense.
Build WALL through M!
3:33 AM - 25 Mar 2018



Trump obviously considers the United States as his personal fiefdom where he can shuffle appropriated money around any way he likes.

Related: Trump pushing Pentagon to pay for border wall: report

I thought Mexico was paying for this wall?

 

[Quag]

Wait the US military is actually Mexican?