The Latest: Trump in California to view border fencing
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the border (all times local):
11:25 p.m.
President Donald Trump has made a dramatic appearance at his privately owned golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
Trump landed in Marine One, making an unannounced visit to his Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles, as guests and members took photos and videos of his arrival.
The White House says that Trump is having a “private dinner” at the club, but is not providing any other details.
Trump did not divest his business holdings upon taking office, and continues to profit from his real estate holdings, including his golf courses.
The visit comes as Trump is facing a new showdown with congressional Democrats, who are seeking his tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service, as they look to examine the president’s finances.
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10:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump is still thinking about winning heavily Democratic California in 2020.
Trump lost the state to Hillary Clinton by over 4 million votes in the 2016 election. But he told a crowd at a private Beverly Hills fundraiser Friday that he thinks he can pull off a win next year.
That’s according to Republican National Committeeman Shawn Steel, who attended the event, where photos with the president were going for $50,000.
Steel says Trump told the crowd it’s a bad time to be a socialist in America’s thriving economy, an obvious dig at his potential Democratic rivals.
And Trump got a big round of applause talking about his administration’s decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Steel says.
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8:40 p.m.
President Donald Trump is attending a roundtable and fundraiser for his re-election Friday evening in Beverly Hills.
The Republican National Committee says 170 people are at the event at the home of health care executive and GOP donor Lee Samson. The fundraiser benefits the RNC’s “Trump Victory” joint account with Trump’s campaign. The RNC is not disclosing the amount raised at the event.
According to Federal Aviation Administration flight restrictions, Trump will then pay a visit to his private golf club outside Los Angeles in Palos Verdes, California.
He is then traveling late Friday to Las Vegas, where he will speak at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual meeting Saturday.
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5:30 p.m.
House Democrats have filed a lawsuit aimed at preventing President Donald Trump from spending more money than Congress has approved to erect barriers along the southwestern border.
Democrats say Trump’s attempt to transfer billions of dollars from several programs to wall construction violates the Constitution, which gives Congress control over spending. The 45-page complaint was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls Trump’s act a “brazen assault” on the Constitution.
Congress approved just under $1.4 billion for work on border barricades. Trump has asserted he can use his powers as chief executive to transfer another $6.7 billion to wall construction.
Attorneys general from 20 states, plus environmental and progressive groups, have filed other lawsuits aimed at blocking the transfers.
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5 p.m.
President Donald Trump is showcasing a section of border wall that separates the United States and Mexico.
Trump visited the section of fencing in Calexico, California, on Friday and declared that “it looks great” and was “better, faster, less expensive” than other barrier options.
The fence Trump is touring is a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) section that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier, rather than new wall.
The White House says the barrier is marked with a plaque bearing Trump’s name and those of top homeland security officials.
The new 30-foot-tall, 2.25-mile-long barrier replaced fencing that was made of hrlicopter landing mats from the Vietnam War.
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4:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump is downplaying the claims of people seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump says: “I look at some of these asylum people. They’re gang members. They’re not afraid of anything.”
Trump is also comparing some efforts to seek asylum to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.
Trump says: “It’s a scam, it’s a hoax. I know about hoaxes. I just went through a hoax.”
Trump traveled Friday to Southern California to meet with local law enforcement officials and to tour a section of recently rebuilt fencing along the border with Mexico.
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3:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump says his administration is ensuring the country knows “this is an actual emergency” at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump traveled Friday to Southern California to meet with local law enforcement officials and tour a section of recently rebuilt fencing he cites as the answer to a surge of migrant families coming to the U.S. in recent months.
Trump says the administration is making progress in building a border wall and says he expects “close to 400 miles” to be completed within the next two years.
The fence that Trump is touring in Calexico is a two-mile section that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier, rather than new wall.
Trump says of the border wall, “We’ve done a lot, we’ve renovated a lot.”
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3:20 p.m.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has denounced President Donald Trump’s comments about getting rid of the asylum system. The governor issued the strong criticism in a statement Friday as the president arrived in California to visit the U.S.-Mexico border.
Newsom says that since its founding, the United States has been a refuge and safe haven for people fleeing tyranny, oppression and violence.
The governor says the president’s rhetoric disregards the Constitution, the justice system “and what it means to be an American.”
In comments at the White House as he left for California, Trump urged Congress “to get rid of the whole asylum system because it doesn’t work.” Trump’s administration has been pushing Congress to pass legislation that would tighten asylum rules.
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2:46 p.m.
President Donald Trump is in California to meet with local law enforcement officials at a border patrol station and to tour a section of recently rebuilt fencing he cites as the answer to stop migrant families coming to the U.S.
The fence that Trump is touring in Calexico is a two-mile section that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier, rather than new wall.
The White House says the barrier is marked with a plaque bearing Trump’s name and those of top homeland security officials.
The visit comes after Trump sparked confusion with a threat to seal the southern border.
Trump said Thursday he wouldn’t act for a year, and issued a fresh threat to place tariffs on autos manufactured in Mexico.
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8:52 a.m.
President Donald Trump is ramping up his attacks on Democrats as he looks to make border security an issue for the 2020 re-election campaign.
Trump’s campaign released a new video attacking 2020 Democrats for dismissing what Trump calls a “crisis” at the border.
Trump travels Friday to Southern California to meet with local law enforcement officials and to tour a section of recently rebuilt fencing he cites as the answer to stop a surge of migrant families coming to the U.S. in recent months.
The fence that Trump is touring is a two-mile section that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier, rather than new wall. The White House says the barrier is marked with a plaque bearing Trump’s name and those of top homeland security officials.
The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.
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