{"id":13796,"date":"2019-01-05T13:16:20","date_gmt":"2019-01-05T13:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kumasionlinegh.com\/?p=13796"},"modified":"2019-01-05T13:16:20","modified_gmt":"2019-01-05T13:16:20","slug":"trump-threatens-national-emergency-over-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kumasionlinetv.com\/?p=13796","title":{"rendered":"Trump threatens \u2018national emergency\u2019 over wall"},"content":{"rendered":"

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US President Donald Trump has said he could declare a national emergency to build a US-Mexico border wall without the approval of Congress.<\/p>\n

It came after he met senior Democrats, who refused his requests for funding.<\/p>\n

The stand-off has seen Mr Trump withhold support for a bill to fully fund the government until he gets money for the border wall.<\/p>\n

He said he was prepared for the partial government shutdown \u2013 now in its third week \u2013 to last years.<\/p>\n

Around 800,000 federal workers have been without pay since 22 December.<\/p>\n

Trump aides and lawmakers will meet later on Saturday in a fresh bid to resolve the impasse.<\/p>\n

What happened in Friday\u2019s meeting with Democrats?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Republican president initially gave a positive account of the 90-minute meeting at the White House, describing it as \u201cvery productive\u201d.<\/p>\n

But when asked whether he had considered using emergency presidential powers to bypass congressional approval of funding, Mr Trump said he had.<\/p>\n

\u201cI may do it. We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly. That\u2019s another way of doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud of doing what I\u2019m doing,\u201d the president added. \u201cI don\u2019t call it a shutdown, I call it doing what you have to do for the benefit and safety of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday\u2019s meeting had been \u201ccontentious\u201d, while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: \u201cWe told the president we needed the government open. He resisted.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the background?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Democrats, who now hold the majority in the House, passed spending bills on Thursday to reopen the government, including $1.3bn (\u00a31bn) of border security funds until 8 February.<\/p>\n

But the legislation cannot take effect unless it passes the Republican-controlled Senate, where leader Mitch McConnell said his party would not back any measure without the president\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

The Kentucky senator called the Democratic budget \u201ca time-wasting act of political posturing\u201d.<\/p>\n

In Friday\u2019s news conference, Mr Trump also told reporters he might consider asking his cabinet to decline a $10,000 raise that is due to take effect because a pay freeze has expired as an inadvertent result of the shutdown.<\/p>\n

The fiscal fiasco began when Congress and Mr Trump failed to reach an agreement over a budget bill in December.<\/p>\n

he Republicans had passed an initial funding bill including $5bn (\u00a34bn) for the wall, when they still had a majority in the House, but they could not get the necessary 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate.<\/p>\n

Two vulnerable Republican senators up for re-election in 2020 \u2013 Cory Gardner of Colorado and Susan Collins of Maine \u2013 have broken ranks to back approving the budget and ending the shutdown.<\/p>\n

\"Chart<\/p>\n

The White House is again floating the idea of a deal for \u201cDreamers\u201d \u2013 immigrants who illegally entered the US as children.<\/p>\n

Democrats want to ensure that these individuals are shielded from deportation, but have insisted that they will not support a deal over wall funding.<\/p>\n

Vice-President Mike Pence told Fox News the deal was being \u201ctalked about\u201d, but that Mr Trump said no deal was possible \u201cwithout a wall\u201d.<\/p>\n

What does the partial shutdown mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n