Trump says he’ll be declaring a national emergency to build a southern border wall

Congress has given Trump about $1.4 billion for border barriers, well below the $5.7 billion Trump has insisted he needed to build a wall.

US President Donald Trump announced that he will be declaring a national emergency that will allow him to bypass Congress to spend more money on the southern border wall.

US President Donald Trump said he will be declaring a national emergency so he can build a southern border wall. The President, however, did not say when he would make such a declaration, but the move will allow him to bypass Congress to spend more money to erect barriers on the US-Mexico border.

Explained: Trump’s emergency, and what it means for his wall

Congress has given Donald Trump about $1.4 billion for border barriers, well below the $5.7 billion the President has insisted he needed to build a wall.

To bypass the Congress, the POTUS plans to use his executive authority to tap other sources of funding to get a total of $8 billion to build the wall. The White House says Trump plans to tap accounts in the Treasury and Defense departments, but not money earmarked for disaster relief.

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Pressure mounts on Trump to sign funding bill

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will look for "land mines" in a government funding bill, though he also said he does not want to close the government for the second time this winter.

(With inputs from AP)