Trump To Address The Nation During Prime Time Speech On Tuesday Night
President Donald Trump has indicated that he intends to speak to the nation on the issues of the partial government shutdown, his proposed border wall, and of national security at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The news of Trump’s planned statements came about after the New York Times reported as much on Monday afternoon. Shortly after the reporting from the New York Times came out, the president himself told his followers of his intention to speak on Tuesday evening, via a Twitter post.
“I am pleased to inform you that I will Address the Nation on the Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern Border. Tuesday night at 9:00 P.M. Eastern.
The White House has reportedly asked network TV channels to make time available to broadcast the president’s remarks live.
Trump’s tweet on the issue of the border crisis includes a noticeable shift in his talking points, utilizing the word “humanitarian” as one of the crises the president plans to address in his speech on Tuesday evening.
Trump has rarely used the word “humanitarian” in his tweets since becoming president, and has never used the word in conjunction with talking points regarding immigration or border security, according to a search of his tweets at the Trump Twitter Archive.
NYT: Trump wants primetime slot to address nation Tuesday https://t.co/TT4lHSd26W pic.twitter.com/qQVMNDlWyp
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) January 7, 2019
Trump has long pushed for construction and extension of a border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, claiming its necessary to beef up security and to keep unwanted migrants from entering the country. As a result of this demand, Trump has stated he would not sign any bill to continue funding the federal government until one reaches his desk with more than $5 billion in funds for the border wall.
After that demand was made — and no deal was reached — the government entered a partial shutdown, a status that has remained static since December 22. There’s no end in sight for the current impasse, as Democratic leaders in Congress have indicated that they will not budge on the issue.
More than 800,000 federal workers have been affected, having been forced to work without pay — or having been furloughed — because of the shutdown.
Polling indicates that most Americans don’t want a border wall, with only 35 percent saying they support construction of one in a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. When respondents were asked if a shutdown should be used to convince lawmakers to support funding for a wall, only a quarter of Americans supported that idea.
Regarding the government shutdown, that same poll, conducted at the end of December, found that 47 percent of Americans put the blame for the crisis on President Donald Trump — while just a third of respondents said that Democrats were to blame.
