Donald Trump delivered his first prime-time address from the Oval Office Tuesday evening, speaking directly to the American people about the need to for a planned border wall with Mexico. The speech came mere hours after Senate Democrats prevented the chamber from considering bipartisan legislation in an attempt to pressure GOP lawmakers to reopen the government.
Trump Addresses America
In a speech that lasted roughly eight minutes, President Trump made one of his strongest cases yet for increased border protection, including the need to prevent illegal drugs, gang members and criminals from entering America unlawfully. Trump called the situation on the southern border as a “humanitarian crisis – a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul.”
Although the address wasn’t too dissimilar from his previous arguments in favor of a border wall, it came at a critical time for Congress and the nation as a whole. That’s because the federal government has been partially shutdown for over two weeks. Trump has promised to keep it partially closed until Congress approves nearly $6 billion in funding for a wall along the southern border. Until now, Democrats have refused to budge on the border wall, which has blocked the formation of a new budget and put government services on hold.
President Trump is planning to visit the southern border later this week, according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.
According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll, 51% of Americans believe Trump “deserves most of the blame” for the government shutdown. That’s up 4 percentage points from a week earlier.
Businesses are Struggling
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has called on Congress to end the government shutdown to prevent the pain from spreading beyond federal payrolls. With federal employees set to miss their first full paycheck on Friday, a prolonged shutdown could soon impact American businesses.
“The shutdown is harming the American people, the business community, and the economy,” Chamber executive vice president Neil Bradley told Congress in a latter, according to CNN. “The adverse consequences of the shutdown are wide and growing.”