Trump Responds After Pelosi Rejects Border Wall Compromise Offer

President Donald Trump speaks at a Make America Great Again rally in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on Nov. 5, 2018. Right: Nancy Pelosi Jim Watson/AFP; Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump responded to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) rejection of his border-wall proposal on Jan. 20, as he outlined the selling points of his new offer, while chiding Democratic leaders for dismissing him before he even gave his speech.

In a string of early-morning tweets, Trump made clear that his latest offer doesn’t include amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the United States.

“No, Amnesty is not a part of my offer,” Trump said on Twitter. “It is a 3 year extension of DACA. Amnesty will be used only on a much bigger deal, whether on immigration or something else. Likewise there will be no big push to remove the 11,000,000 plus people who are here illegally-but be careful Nancy!”

On Jan. 19, Trump outlined his new offer, which would provide temporary protection from deportation to some 700,000 illegal immigrants, in exchange for $5.7 billion in border-wall funding. A number of additional measures, such as humanitarian funding, drug-detection technology, and extending protections for people who have fled wars and disasters, were included as well.

The three-year extension for the 700,000 illegal immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy offers “legislative relief” that would allow for work permits, social security numbers, and protection from deportation. Trump’s proposal also includes a three-year extension of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that currently lets people from certain countries stay in the United States if they left their homes to escape wars, disasters, or “other extraordinary and temporary conditions.”

Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks during a weekly news conference Jan. 17, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Alex Wong/Getty Images

In his response, Trump chastised Pelosi, saying she has lost her authority over the Democrats, as the shutdown reached its 30th day—the longest in U.S. history.

“Nancy Pelosi has behaved so irrationally & has gone so far to the left that she has now officially become a Radical Democrat,” he wrote on Twitter. “She is so petrified of the “lefties” in her party that she has lost control...And by the way, clean up the streets in San Francisco, they are disgusting!”

In one tweet, Trump said Democrats “don’t see crime & drugs, they only see 2020 - which they are not going to win.” At the same time, he touted the strong economy and called on their party to “do the right thing for the Country & allow people to go back to work.”

The partial shutdown, which affects about a quarter of the federal government, began Dec. 22 after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on funding for border security. Trump has been the only side to offer a compromise so far, as Democrats refuse to budge from their initial $1.3 billion offer for border-security purposes, which doesn’t include funds for a border wall.

Pelosi, on Twitter, shot back at Trump.

“800,000 Americans are going without pay. Re-open the government, let workers get their paychecks and then we can discuss how we can come together to protect the border,” she wrote.

Trump reminded Americans that they are already building parts of the wall.

“Don’t forget, we are building and renovating big sections of Wall right now. Moving quickly, and will cost far less than previous politicians thought possible,” he wrote on Twitter. “Building, after all, is what I do best, even when money is not readily available!”

Currently, about 654 miles of barrier exists along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.–Mexico border. Customs and Border Protection constructed around 31 miles of new and replacement fencing in 2018, with the final nine miles expected to be done early this year, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Latino Surge

Meanwhile, Trump’s approval rating among Latinos shot up by 19 points, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

The poll, conducted from Jan. 10th to Jan. 13th, found that 50 percent of Latinos surveyed approved of the job Trump is doing. The same poll conducted in December showed the approval rating at 31 percent. Pollsters surveyed 1,023 adults by phone in the latest one.

Trump said the survey’s findings reflect how important the wall is to Hispanics.

“Wow, just heard that my poll numbers with Hispanics has gone up 19%, to 50%,” he said on Twitter. “That is because they know the Border issue better than anyone, and they want Security, which can only be gotten with a Wall.”

A mid-October survey by the same pollsters last year found only 27 percent of approval among Latino voters. The recent surge coming in the midst of the partial shutdown indicates that Trump’s Latino base strongly support the construction of a border wall.

Despite the double-digit surge in Latino approval, pollsters NPR and PBS failed to mention the number found in their own own poll. A search for the term “Latino poll” on the outlets’ website failed to yield any articles talking about the recent increase.