Getty U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the nation in his first-prime address from the Oval Office of the White House on January 8, 2019 in Washington, DC.
President Donald Trump delivered a prime time address to the nation on Tuesday, January 8, at 9 p.m. Eastern. Trump spoke about the government shutdown, which is in its 18th day and the border wall. Trump falsely blamed the Democrats for the ongoing shutdown and called the situation at the border a “humanitarian crisis, a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul.”
“Tonight, I am speaking to you because there is a growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. Every day customs and border patrol agents encounter thousands of illegal immigrants trying to enter our country. We are out of space to hold them and we have no way to promptly return them back home to their country,” Trump said. “America proudly welcomes millions of lawful immigrants who enrich our society and contribute to our nation. But, all Americans are hurt by uncontrolled illegal migration. It strains public resources and drives down jobs and wages. Among those hardest hit are African-Americans and Hispanic Americans.
The president added, “Our southern border is a pipeline for vast quantities of illegal drugs, including meth, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl. Every week 300 of our citizens are killed by heroin alone, 90 percent of which floods across from our southern border. More Americans will die from drugs this year than were killed in the entire Vietnam War.”
You can watch Trump’s address below:
Trump also spoke about Americans killed by undocumented immigrants.
“For those who refuse to compromise in the name of in the name of border security, I would ask, imagine if it was your child, your husband or your wife whose life was so cruelly shattered and totally broken. To every member of Congress, pass a bill that ends this crisis,” Trump said. “To every citizen, call Congress and tell them to finally, after all of these decades, secure our border. This is a choice between right and wrong, justice and injustice. This is about whether we fulfill our sacred duty to the American citizens we serve. When I took the oath of office, I swore to protect our country. And that is what I will always do so help me God.”
The Democrats also addressed the nation, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer providing a response to Trump’s speech.
During the response, Pelosi said the House has passed Senate Republican legislation to re-open the governement and fund ” smart, effective border security solutions,” but said Trump is “rejecting these bipartisan bills which would re-open government – over his obsession with forcing American taxpayers to waste billions of dollars on an expensive and ineffective wall – a wall he always promised Mexico would pay for!”
Schumer said, “The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, not a thirty-foot wall. So our suggestion is a simple one: Mr. President: re-open the government and we can work to resolve our differences over border security. But end this shutdown now.”
You can watch the Democrats response to President Trump’s prime time address below:
Sources told the New York Post that Pelosi and Schumer did not prepare a script for their response. “Both Pelosi and Schumer know their foundational argument but will firm up their rebuttal in real time because of uncertainty surrounding where President Trump may lead the American people,” a source close to the preparations told the newspaper.
In a Tuesday statement from Pelosi and Schumer, the Democratic leaders said, “Democrats and an increasing number of Republicans in Congress have repeatedly urged the President and Leader McConnell to end the Trump Shutdown and re-open the government while Congress debates the President’s expensive and ineffective wall. Unfortunately, President Trump keeps rejecting the bipartisan House-passed bills.”
The partial government shutdown is now the second longest in U.S. history. Trump will deliver his first address from the Oval Office as he tries to win support for funding to build a wall on the southern border. Trump and has allies have floated the idea that he could use a national emergency to pay for the wall if Congress does not give him the $5 billion he is demanding.
Democrats have called the wall “immoral” and plan to call on Trump to end the government shutdown and allow Congress to pass funding so employees can be paid and the government can function again, while the debate on border security continues.
While Trump has said people want a wall, polls show that isn’t true. A majority of Americans oppose the wall and also want the shutdown to end.
Trump is scheduled to head to the border on Thursday to continue his pitch for the wall and increased security there. Details of that trip have not yet been revealed.