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Evan Vucci via PA Images

'There's a good chance we'll have to': Trump hints that he might declare state of emergency

Trump hinted in remarks at a White House meeting on cross-border trafficking.

US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has given his strongest indication yet that he will soon declare a state of emergency, bypassing the need for congressional approval to fund a controversial US-Mexico border wall.

Trump hinted in remarks at a White House meeting on cross-border trafficking that a declaration – which would further heat the political temperature around the issue – could even come in his State of the Union speech to Congress next Tuesday.

“Well, I’m saying listen closely to the State of the Union, I think you’ll find it very exciting,” Trump said. 

“I’m certainly thinking about it,” he said of declaring the emergency.

“I think there’s a good chance we’ll have to do that.”

Trump’s threat comes well before the expiration of a 15 February deadline that he set for Congress to agree on funding for wall construction.

However, yesterday he described negotiations with opposition Democrats “a waste of time”.

The president says that existing sections of walls should be extended along the border to stop what he describes as an uncontrolled invasion of criminals.

Democrats, who control the lower house, have repeatedly rejected Trump’s funding demands, saying that he has made the wall project a political crusade to demonise immigrants and to satisfy his base.

He previously tried to pressure Congress into backing his idea by refusing to sign off on budgets for swaths of the federal government, leading to a five-week shutdown of some 800,000 government jobs.

By declaring a national emergency on the border, Trump would, in theory, be able to tap unrelated funding to use wall construction.

However, he would almost certainly face immediate court challenges, with Democrats arguing that there is no real emergency on the frontier.

© AFP 2019  

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    Mute William Grogan
    Favourite William Grogan
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    Apr 13th 2014, 3:38 PM

    What’s a RIB doing out so late at night? Why didn’t it have a chart, a GPS, VHF and a depth sounder? Why didn’t they phone for help? In Ireland and the UK, as opposed to the rest of Europe, any fool can drive a RIB. No licence is needed and no training. It’s about time that stopped.

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    Mute Kieran O Leary
    Favourite Kieran O Leary
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    Apr 13th 2014, 5:30 PM

    I suspect there was some bevvies involved! Lots of people have done that en route back from town by night. It’s a very tight channel. Why the need for all the drama? Put out an anchor and wait for the tide to re float the boat (which is essentially what the lifeboat did). Foolish getting into the mud to push off, as you can sink into it. I bet they’re embarrassed today.

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    Mute Niall Lonergan
    Favourite Niall Lonergan
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    Apr 13th 2014, 4:36 PM

    They ran aground? So getting out and f*cking walking wasn’t an option?

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    Mute Kinsaleable
    Favourite Kinsaleable
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    Apr 13th 2014, 5:26 PM

    I’m sure that was in their initial plan Niall but what you obviously aren’t aware of is that the mud is several Metres thick so it would have been suicide to just “walk” off

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