President Trump gave an impromptu press conference in which he defended his mental fitness and called for a wall on the southern border in exchange for efforts to legalize those affected by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Trump took questions at Camp David following a strategy session with GOP lawmakers, Cabinet officials and White House aides. He again denied he or his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. While the president did not flatly deny dispatching aides to try stopping Attorney General Jeff Sessions from recusing himself from the Justice Department’s Russia probe, Trump contended he did nothing illicit.
Trump also sent a signal to congressional Democrats, saying he wants to legalize the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — but only if a possible immigration bill also addresses his proposed southern border wall, something Democrats strongly oppose.“We want the wall,” Trump said. “The wall’s going to happen or we’re not going to have DACA.”
Trump said he wants to address the DACA immigration program and funding for his southern border wall — and other related issues — in a single bill. But his demands again showed how difficult it will be to craft such a bill in an election year.