Trump makes border wall pitch ahead of key meeting with Democratic leaders

President Trump early Tuesday made the case for his proposed border wall ahead of a meeting with Democratic leaders to discuss funding, saying it would provide additional security.

“Our Southern Border is now Secure and will remain that way,” he wrote in a lengthy series of tweets. “I look forward to my meeting with Chuck Schumer & Nancy Pelosi. In 2006, Democrats voted for a Wall, and they were right to do so. Today, they no longer want Border Security.

“They will fight it at all cost, and Nancy must get votes for Speaker,” he added. “But the Wall will get built.”

{mosads}Trump appeared to dial back his rhetoric on the need for a fully funded border wall, claiming over the course of several tweets that “our newly built Walls, makeshift Walls & Fences, or Border Patrol Officers & Military” have kept a group of Central American migrants from crossing the border, but that a full wall would be “a far easier & less expensive solution.”

“The Democrats, however, for strictly political reasons and because they have been pulled so far left, do NOT want Border Security,” Trump tweeted.

The president repeated his claim that Democrats favor “open borders,” which he argued “brings large scale crime and disease.”

“If the Democrats do not give us the votes to secure our Country, the Military will build the remaining sections of the Wall,” Trump concluded. “They know how important it is!”

The president recently directed thousands of troops to be deployed the southern border to prepare for the arrival of Central American migrants. The troops helped lay barbed wire near the border, while critics accused Trump of using the military personnel for a political stunt ahead of the midterm elections.

Despite the large Caravans that WERE forming and heading to our Country, people have not been able to get through our newly built Walls, makeshift Walls & Fences, or Border Patrol Officers & Military. They are now staying in Mexico or going back to their original countries…….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2018

…..Ice, Border Patrol and our Military have done a FANTASTIC job of securing our Southern Border. A Great Wall would be, however, a far easier & less expensive solution. We have already built large new sections & fully renovated others, making them like new. The Democrats,…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2018

….however, for strictly political reasons and because they have been pulled so far left, do NOT want Border Security. They want Open Borders for anyone to come in. This brings large scale crime and disease. Our Southern Border is now Secure and will remain that way…….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2018

…..I look forward to my meeting with Chuck Schumer & Nancy Pelosi. In 2006, Democrats voted for a Wall, and they were right to do so. Today, they no longer want Border Security. They will fight it at all cost, and Nancy must get votes for Speaker. But the Wall will get built…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2018

….People do not yet realize how much of the Wall, including really effective renovation, has already been built. If the Democrats do not give us the votes to secure our Country, the Military will build the remaining sections of the Wall. They know how important it is!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2018

The president’s prolonged comments on border security came hours before he was scheduled to meet with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) at the White House, where the three are expected to discuss funding for border security.

Trump has pushed for $5 billion to fund border security, including money for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, while the Democratic leaders have indicated they’re unwilling to commit more than $1.6 billion.

Congress must pass government funding bills by Dec. 21 to avoid a partial shutdown. Pelosi and Schumer said in a statement late Monday that the president should accept a yearlong stopgap funding measure that would provide $1.3 billion for border fencing and barriers, the same amount that Congress appropriated for fiscal 2018.

Trump has made border security a signature issue of his administration after pledging during the 2016 campaign that he would build a wall along the southern border and that Mexico would pay for it.

–Updated at 7:50 a.m.