President Donald Trump went on an unhinged Twitter rant on Friday morning in which he threatened to close the border and kill NAFTA if Democrats don’t agree to fund his wall.
After ending his Thursday by falsely blaming the Ninth Circuit Court’s DACA ruling for the government shutdown, Trump apparently went to bed seething, only to wake up the next morning and throw a massive temper tantrum.
We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with. Hard to believe there was a Congress & President who would approve!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2018
….The United States looses soooo much money on Trade with Mexico under NAFTA, over 75 Billion Dollars a year (not including Drug Money which would be many times that amount), that I would consider closing the Southern Border a “profit making operation.” We build a Wall or…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2018
…..close the Southern Border. Bring our car industry back into the United States where it belongs. Go back to pre-NAFTA, before so many of our companies and jobs were so foolishly sent to Mexico. Either we build (finish) the Wall or we close the Border……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2018
…..Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are doing nothing for the United States but taking our money. Word is that a new Caravan is forming in Honduras and they are doing nothing about it. We will be cutting off all aid to these 3 countries – taking advantage of U.S. for years!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2018
There are so many things that are wrong with this hissy fit.
First of all, Trump literally just threatened to blow up the new NAFTA he signed with Canada and Mexico, a move that would create more uncertainty in the stock market, which is already having the worst December since the Great Depression.
Second, his tariffs and trade wars are causing the American auto industry to close plants, kill jobs and move production overseas, not immigration. Killing NAFTA would just make things worse.
And Trump’s wall would not stop drugs from entering the country, nor would closing the border.
According to Factcheck.org:
“[T]he fact is that most illicit drugs pass undetected through legal ports of entry.
Mexican cartels “transport the bulk of their drugs over the Southwest Border through ports of entry (POEs) using passenger vehicles or tractor trailers,” the Drug Enforcement Administration said in a 2015 report. “The drugs are typically secreted in hidden compartments when transported in passenger vehicles or comingled with legitimate goods when transported in tractor trailers.”
Trump’s proposed wall would have no impact on drugs smuggled by passenger vehicles, tractor trailers, cargo trains, small boats or ultralight aircraft.
It should also be pointed out that Trump once claimed that Mexico is paying for it all because of the supposed savings under the new NAFTA, but he is now reversing himself by claiming that we are losing money.
And Trump is once again trying to stir up fear and hate by claiming a new caravan is forming. But by threatening to cut aid to Central American nations, Trump would only be creating more desperate people who will travel to the border to seek asylum in the United States, compounding the chaos at the border that he has already caused while killing vital trade routes in the process.
Twitter users responded unfavorably to Trump’s threats.
Go back to pre NAFTA? What happened with the USMCA agreement? A week ago you claimed Mexico would be paying for the wall through the USMCA agreement. Now you lose money? Which is it?
— Tim van der Zwaag (@TimvanderZwaag) December 28, 2018
Uuuhmm… if you can just close the border, what do you want the wall for?
— Hyza (@Hyza87) December 28, 2018
If you can close the border without a wall, why do you need a wall????
— So Good it Ertz (@mo__con) December 28, 2018
Funny you should mention companies leaving when in YOUR tax bill there was no incentive for them to stay. Just the opposite. Then you started with your tariffs which are causing more companies to leave. More lies…
— Teri Harling (@HarlingT) December 28, 2018
TRANSLATION: Do what I say or I will close my border and go home! I don’t care if this destroys the economy. Also I’m ignoring the deal I signed a month ago, showing our allies I can’t be trusted to keep my word over a partisan fight! Watch stocks fall.https://t.co/G6tXKY4NRx
— ??? ????? ?????????? ?? (@TrumpTranslato) December 28, 2018
A NEW caravan? Yeah… why don’t you start fear-mongering about that since your last #caravan fear-mongering BULLSHIT worked out “sooooo” well for you and Republicans in the midterms… #Trump #GOP
— Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) December 28, 2018
Honduras in case you didn’t know Donnie is the 2nd largest exporter of coffee in SA YOUR MONEY keeps the legitimate trade routes open. Guatemala you take their sugar but kill the poor, with no money El Salvador will dive into a state of civil war again but you’ll take the forests
— iangardiner (@iangardiner59) December 28, 2018
The US has been interfering in the affairs of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador for decades, toppling governments it didn’t like and installing others (usually brutal right-wing regimes) that it did like. If people are fleeing from oppression in these countries, it’s US fault.
— Frank McDonald (@frankmcdonald60) December 28, 2018
Trump’s hissy fit comes after the Senate adjourned four minutes into a scheduled session because nobody showed up. The government shutdown will now stretch into January as Democrats prepare to over the House, meaning Trump has no leverage. This shutdown is on him and him alone. He took complete credit for it during an Oval Office meeting on video and refused to sign a unanimously passed Senate bill to keep the government funded through early February. Now Trump is threatening to shoot the American economy in the head if he doesn’t get his way. It’s time for Republicans to end this madness by pulling the trigger on impeachment before Trump irreversibly destroys this country.
Featured Image: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
