Trump has demanded $3 billion more for Border Wall from U.S Congress

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The U.S President Donald Trump has planned to ask the U.S Congress for $8.6 billion to build a wall on the U.S southern border in 2020. It is a figure that far surpasses former allocations for the proposed project. The new demand for Trump is 6-times what was allocated earlier this year to construct the border wall. It is at least 6% more than what he has sought to reallocate with his emergency declaration. The request will gain much traction with Democrats in control of the House of Representatives. The U.S Democrats successfully thwarted his request for $5.6 billion in border funding earlier this year.

The proposal could potentially set the stage for the president’s re-election bid, even after a damaging start of the year. It experienced few concessions on the issue and Trump taking the blame for the longest government shutdown in American history. One of the Trump administration officials informed Reuters, “It gives the president the ability to say he has fulfilled his commitment to gain operational control of the southwest border”. Another Trump administration official informed the news agency that they have provided the course of action, the strategy and the request to finish the job. It is important that the current attempt from the president to secure funding for the wall through an emergency declaration is being challenged in the U.S Congress and U.S courts. It is supposedly a resolution terminating the declaration currently being considered in the U.S Senate.

The measure arrived to have received enough support from Republicans in the Senate to pass. It is a scenario that would force Trump to sign the first veto of his presidency. It is unlikely that a veto on the measure would be overruled in the U.S Congress. Trump has made building a border wall a central promise of his presidency. He has launched his 2016 election campaign with a pledge to secure America’s southern border. Trump has pursued so-called “America First” policies since becoming president, including the building of the wall. The U.S has 1,933 miles of border with Mexico and some 700 miles of wall or fencing have already been constructed through previous allocations from the U.S Congress and it was started during the administration of Bill Clinton.