US President Donald Trump yesterday headed to the US-Mexico border as part of his offensive to build a wall, a day after he stormed out of negotiations when Democratic opponents refused to agree to fund the project in exchange for an end to a government shutdown.
“A total waste of time,” Trump tweeted about his White House meeting with top Democratic congressional leaders. “I said bye-bye, nothing else works!”
US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that Trump “sort of slammed the table,” then “got up and walked out.”
Photo: AFP
“Again, we saw a temper tantrum because he couldn’t get his way,” Schumer said.
On the border, aid workers had a message for Trump: Things are not as he says they are, and the people crossing the border are not murderers and drug traffickers.
“The truth is that a great number of percentage of people entering our country, asking to come in to the country, are not criminals — they are families, children, mothers who really are asking for protection. They’re not coming here to hurt us, but rather for us to help them,” said Sister Norma Pimentel, head of the Catholic Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas.
In Washington, according to supporters of Trump at Wednesday’s meeting, the president asked Democratic leaders whether they would agree to fund a wall in exchange for him ending a government shutdown, which he instigated in retaliation for the standoff.
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi “raised her hand and said no, not at all,” said Kevin McCarthy, the senior Republican in the House.
“We heard once again that Democratic leaders are unwilling to even negotiate,” US Vice President Mike Pence said.
Pence said that Trump came in good faith.
“The president walked into the room and passed out candy,” Pence said. “I don’t recall him ever raising his voice or slamming his hand.”
Trump’s main lever to exert pressure on the US Congress has been to refuse signing spending bills that cover large areas of government. As a result, about 800,000 federal employees and many more contractors have been without pay for almost three weeks.
Democrats say they will not lift their opposition to the wall, and believe Americans would tire of the shutdown and blame Trump.
However, Trump on Wednesday during a visit with Republican allies in Congress indicated that he would continue to play hardball.
“Whatever it takes,” he told journalists when asked how long the shutdown could continue.
Earlier at the White House, Trump told journalists that if he cannot get his way, he could declare a national emergency — a measure that allows him to bypass Congress and take the wall funds he needs from the military.
“I think we might work a deal, and if we don’t, we might go that route,” he said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique