He is at it again! The petulant child in the White House is making another threat. On Sunday, like the “terrible twos” toddler he is, he threw open his toy box and threw all his tweet toys everywhere in a ‘manic tweetstorm lasting two hours. In this berserk tirade, the current occupant of the White House seemed to be tweeting an unfettered stream of his own consciousness. None of the tweets seemed related one exception. There were several tweets that covered Trump’s favorite go-to red meat issue-immigration. He started off with this one:
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
Tom Homan, fmr ICE Director: “There is nobody that has done more for border security & public safety than President Trump. I’ve worked for six presidents, and I respect them all, but nobody has done more than this Administration & President Trump,that’s just a stone cold fact!”
This was followed a few minutes later by this:
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether they have children or not – and many are just using children for their own sinister purposes.Congress must act on fixing the DUMBEST & WORST immigration laws anywhere in the world! Vote “R”
Finally, in his last tweet of the morning, he issues a threat to Congress:
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
I would be willing to “shut down” government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!
Threats are nothing new for Trump. In true schoolyard bullying form, he has continuously made them, reversed them and forgot about them. The Republicans in Congress doubt he will act on his threat to shut down the government to foil the continuing resolution to fund the government by September 30th. They certainly don’t want to go in the mid-term elections with that catastrophe hanging over their heads. But who really knows what Trump might do?
Since he began his campaign, Trump has fired up his supporters with calls to build a 670 mile border wall with Mexico at a cost of $25 billion dollars. To justify the wall, he has made numerous outrageous claims about immigrants crossing the border to engender fear in his base. His political rallies have continued following his election and inauguration. Going into his harangue on Mexican immigrants produces chants of “Build the Wall” from his crowd of lemmings. While I find Trump’s obsession with building the border wall madness, it nonetheless strikes a chord with his base. On the surface that would seem to be reason enough.
On the other hand, there may be a more covert and sinister motivation on Trump’s part. If and when the funding for the wall would be appropriated by Congress, it is certain that Trump will give the final approval of who becomes the general contractor to build the wall. After all, I am sure he thinks he knows more about construction than any other person in the world! (exaggeration intended). Given his experience in the construction industry in New York and around the world, it wouldn’t be a surprise for the greatest dealmaker in the world (another intended exaggeration) to cut a deal with the general contractor. Kickbacks are not unusual in the construction business. In many cases they are built into their bids. Trump is no rookie when it comes to illegal activity and making money seemingly disappear into the dark hole of financial corruption.
With Trump everything is transactional. Despite his claims to the contrary, he and his business organization continue to profit from his presidency. The old saying “in politics, follow the money” has been proven true more times than not. If the funding for the wall is ever appropriated, Trump will undoubtedly want his cut. He may even shut down the government to get it.
The Progressive Democrat 