Politics

Trump: We Will Guard Our Border With Our Military

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images

Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the US military will be used to guard the US-Mexico border.

“We are going to be guarding our border with our military. That’s a big step,” Trump told reporters gathered at the White House. “We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and by the way never showing up for court.”

The President’s comments appear to take aim at current US policy which requires border agents to catch then release family units who arrive at the border from noncontiguous countries.

He also said he had spoken with Secretary of Defense James Mattis about the use of the military to guard the border.

In recent days, Trump has repeatedly tweeted about a caravan of illegal immigrants making their way from Honduras to the US border via Mexico. The President had threatened to end the NAFTA agreement if the Mexican government did not stop the caravan and to end U.S. aid to Honduras.

Mexican authorities responded to Trump’s Sunday threat to kill NAFTA by pledging to disband the caravan and allow some people traveling to apply for asylum in Mexico. The organizers, however, said many members of the group will continue marching north towards the US-Mexico border where, if they claim asylum and are with a family unit, they legally must be released into the interior of the country.

Later in the press spray, Trump claimed that “nobody has been tougher” on Russia than his his administration.

“We’ll find out whether or not we do. If we could all get along, that would be great, and that includes China and includes many other countries,” POTUS explained. “But we will see what happens. Only time will tell,” he said. “Pretty much everybody agrees to that, except very stupid people.”