Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said in an interview released Friday that President Trump told him, “okay, we won’t do the wall” during immigration negotiations.
WATCH:
.@chuckschumer talks negotiating with Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/bzEuek9UuH
— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) September 29, 2017
Schumer said on the podcast “Pod Save America,” “On DREAMers, he said, you know, that he understood that they didn’t come in through any fault of their own, that they’re good Americans, good kids. And then he said he wants the wall in return. And we said ‘No. No wall, Mr. President.’ And he tried that for about 15 minutes, but he’s not going to push me around verbally or any other way.”
“And he finally said, ‘OK, we won’t do the wall. We’ll do some other kind of border security,'” the Senate Minority Leader recalled.
This comes after DTrump signaled a willingness to let illegal immigrant DACA recipients avoid deportation, extending former President Obama’s executive amnesty.
Trump claimed that he would only exchange DACA for “massive border security,” and tweeted that, “The WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built.”
The president also argued having a border wall was “vital” during the DACA negotiations with Democratic leadership. However, it seems Schumer’s story seems to contradict that claim.