According to CNN, over the holiday weekend, Trump hosted a small gathering at his Florida home with some of his FOX News friends. These friends gave the President feedback, advised him and expressed their dismay at his recent decisions and policies. His friends also informed him that his base thinks he is weakening on immigration reform. The wall was also a topic of conversation, or rather the lack of it.
This comes after Ann Coulter a high profile author, columnist and political commentator who has been one of Trump’s major supporters recently went on record stating that she is now a former supporter, and offered her belief that Trump may likely be impeached.
On Tuesday (Apr. 3) Coulter gave an interview on KPEL 96.5FM, expressing her thoughts of the POTUS, noting she thinks he hasn't done a good job at keeping his promises, especially regarding the wall.
Fight or flight
It was no surprise that Easter weekend was filled with blistering presidential tweets--tweets unleashed on the world-wide-web in response to hearing the sobering critiques about his job performance. Trump’s major social media criticisms were about Amazon and the postal service, immigration, and the wall. It appears that Trump's tirade was an ode to his base, and perhaps, a way to regain favor and realign allegiances.
While the POTUS was busy tapping away at his keyboard, a group of Central American refugees was en route through Mexico heading toward the southern American border.
They too were being criticized online by the President and accused of trying to gain entry to the US for the purpose of getting in on DACA, the Dreamers' Act. This is simply not true, nor is there any law that supports this.
To be clear, the refugee journey is not something new. Central American refugees travel to the US yearly seeking asylum from the conflict in their homeland.
However, this is not the messaging currently being shared across Trump supported news stations. Instead, the message is cloaked in bellicosity and fear.
Army or asylum seekers?
On Monday (Apr. 2) FOX News picked up the story and told viewers that a migrant army was headed for the US and showed footage of a stream of people walking, covered in dust.
Some were shoeless, and others shrouded in tattered clothing, but all were linked by a cause under Mexico's sun.
The FOX anchors questioned if America would do anything once the 1,000 refugees reached the border, implying that the US has weak border laws. They expressed concern that the US would be under siege by immigrants and all agreed the refugees should be arrested.
Other far-right media outlets likened the immigration move as a flat-out invasion. All of their perceptions may be owed in part to the President’s holiday Twitter statements and already unfavorable opinions about Hispanics and Latinos.
Slamming the border's doors
In light of the refugee travel and Trump’s job performance discussions, Trump told the media on Tuesday (Apr.
3) that he wants to do things militarily to guard the border until the wall is built.
In this case, it would be an unspecified number of troops from the US National Guard. This news came after the President’s National Security meeting with top White House officials.
Trump will not be the first POTUS to deploy National Guards to assist border patrol agents. Both former Presidents G.W. Bush and Obama deployed personnel to relieve the pressure of clerical duties and operations at the Southern Border.
However, in Trump's case, this doesn't seem to be the reason. There is no need for urgent deployment of troops especially considering that illegal immigration is down, and there are no immediate threats from the region.
So since America is not being invaded or over-run by immigrants now, because most of us are here already, Trump may have to justify spending more money on this kind of border protection to his base--especially since Mexico still hasn't paid one single peso toward the wall.
