Trump Declares Fake National Emergency, Flies To Mar-a-Lago
Donald Trump speaks during the presidential debate with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
1. Trump’s national embarrassment: Today, President Trump declared a national emergency which, as we outlined yesterday, is based entirely on a manufactured crisis built on lies. But before he declared the emergency, he went on a rambling tirade that left many of his critics pointing to this as a prime example of his unfitness for office. The remarks themselves were filled with lies, falsehoods, and misstatements. Trump repeated the lie that he inherited a failing economy when in reality he inherited 75 months of consecutive job growth and an unemployment rate of 4.7% from President Obama who began his presidency with the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Trump also claimed that the majority of drugs that enter the United States don’t pass through legal ports of entry when in reality, that is exactly what they do. President Trump also appeared to call for the death penalty to be used against drug dealers, citing China’s policies.
President Trump also acknowledged the chain of events we predicted yesterday, which involved courts blocking Trump’s national emergency declaration until the Supreme Court takes up the case. That was a subtle admission that this was a largely symbolic move in an effort to appease Trump’s base. After the remarks, President Trump held an impromptu press conference where he combatively took questions from the media. In response to NBC’s Peter Alexander’s question, President Trump admitted, “I didn’t need to do this… I just want to do it faster.” Trump subsequently signed the declaration and then flew to Florida for a weekend at Mar-a-Lago.
The declaration itself seeks to reallocate $3.6 billion from the defense budget, $2.5 billion from counternarcotics programs, and $600 million from the Treasury Department in order to begin construction of his wall at the southern border. It’s interesting that Trump is trying to divert funds from counternarcotics programs in order to build a wall that won’t prevent drugs from entering the United States. Legal challenges are already being prepared. After condemning this as an abuse of power, Democrats are planning to make an effort to block the order themselves. We’ll see how this plays out.
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