Border wall fiasco: President Trump’s support in his own party sees fall, claims report

Washington, Jan 9: US President Donald Trump has stood firm on his shutdown strategy to make the opponent bend on his border wall project but it has reportedly led to cracks in his Republican Party support. According to a report in The Washington Post, while a number of lawmakers expressed anxiety over the possibility of the president declaring a national emergency to build his wall "to secure" the nation, others tended to back the Democrats over their plan to reopen most of the government without the wall money that Trump has sought.

Trump addressed the nation on the border security on January 8, even calling it a humanitarian crisis.

"Ahead of a nationally televised address by Trump, Vice President Pence lobbied House Republicans behind closed doors to stand with the president, reminding them that Trump would not sign any spending bills passed by Democrats unless he gets the wall funding he wants and urging them to reject the Democratic strategy," the Post reported.

But the strategy seemed to be an ominous one for Trump as on the 18th day of the partial shutdown, cracks were reportedly growing in the Republican Party ranks even before Pence lobbied for the president. Trump's intention of bypassing the Congress to get his wall erected was not liked by a number of Republican lawmakers who felt that it should go through a system.

Opposition also came from the House Armed Services Committee which felt that eating into the military budget for building the wall was not right.

"I think border security is very important. It is not a responsibility of the Department of Defense," said Mac Thornberry, the Representative from Texas said. "In short, I'm opposed to using defense dollars for non­defense purposes."

According to the Post report, Trump's showdown with the Democrats has entered a "politically perilous" phase. It said although Trump has largely maintained loyalty among the Republican lawmakers till now, additional defections in the Grand Old Party could isolate the president and force him to reopen the government without delivering on one of his biggest poll promises, which would only embarrass Trump who often claims himself to be the next best to none.