Donald Trump is in a real pickle for 2020. To really secure his base, he has to convince voters that the Wall is being built (it’s not), which would mean that he’s fulfilled his campaign promise, but also that it isn’t being built because of the Democrats, so, naturally, reelecting him would get the job done. Therefore, he has to take credit for something that doesn’t exist, while also assuring his voters that it does. A real Schrodinger’s cat mind-blowing thought experiment.
This is a recap of everything that’s been going on with the Wall. So, basically, for the first two years of the Trump Administration, the Republican Party controlled both the Senate and the House, but President Trump couldn’t get funding for his Wall. When the Democrats won control of the House this past November, it looked like the Wall had just gotten ten feet lower. Now, it looks like it’s a total no-go.
@iwanbaan
A few days ago, the POTUS starred in a live catfight with Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, while VP Mike Pence sat quietly in the back. Trump threatened to refuse to sign a spending bill, thereby forcing a government shutdown, if his Wall didn’t get funded by the House. He made this threat over and over again. “I’d be proud to force a shutdown!,” he said. I’d like to see you try, said Nancy Pelosi in her head… Probably.
For a while, things escalated to the point where we really thought there would be a government shutdown. Well, it turns out there will be no shutdown, and no Wall, either. For starters, it seems as though the concept of the Wall has changed, since President Trump clarified on Twitter on Tuesday that he was not “building a Concrete Wall” but “artistically designed steel slats.” What? Steel slats? That’s a just a fancy way of saying fence. How is that any different from what we have now?
And then, the White House appeared to back off from the shutdown altogether. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders signaled an end to the threats when she finally claimed that the President had looked for funding elsewhere. He allegedly asked other agencies for some spare change to go straight to the construction of the Wall.
@rightsmarts
Wait, what? That’s not a thing! A) Agencies don’t just give up part of their precious and already tight budget. B) Even if they did, they would need approval from Congress, which takes us right back to square one. And C) wasn’t Mexico supposed to pay for the Wall, anyway? Why would you even ask US taxpayers for funding?
So, now Trump is saying Mexico is paying for the Wall, only, you know, indirectly. How, exactly? With the new USMCA trade deal, Sanders told the press. Wait, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “hold on, that can’t be how it works, though, right?” And to that I say, yeah no. That’s not how it works at all.
@sitstudyabroad
The revenue from the new trade deal (which looks an awful lot like the old one) goes to private citizens, not the US Treasury. That means that the American taxpayers, in any case, would be the ones who end up actually paying for the Wall through taxation, of course, and certainly NOT at the expense of Mexico or Mexican citizens. That’s just basic economics. And now, even ultraconservative polemicist Anne Coulter is turning on the President: “Either Trump never intended to build the wall and was scamming voters all along, or he has no idea how to get it done and zero interest in finding out.”
Meanwhile, Trump supporter Brian Kelfoge started a GoFundme campaign, urging Americans to pay for the Wall, after realizing it might never happen. At least this guy gets it. So far, there are $6 million out of a goal of $1 billion (Trump claims he needs $5 billion). Is this what Sanders meant when she talked about looking “different funding sources”?
No matter what it is they have in mind for the steel slats, aka the Wall, now it turns out this may not be a requirement at all. “People are losing sight of the great job being done on our Southern Border by Border Patrol, ICE and our great Military. Remember the Caravans? Well, they didn’t get through and none are forming or on their way. Border is tight.”
@iwanbaan
Oh, so now we don’t even need a Wall? Make up your mind, already! And finally, we’ve come to a standstill because the President has refused to sign any spending bill that doesn’t include $5 billion for his fancy fence. So, now it seems we’re heading straight for a holiday government shutdown.
Picture this scenario: Trump gets just enough funding for a tiny piece of Wall. Then, he inaugurates it by going to take a photo of himself next to it, saying it was all thanks to the Donald, while the rest of the world laughs hysterically at all those who voted for him and the guy who started the Gofundme campaign.
Cover picture @truenewyorkcity
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