Speaking at a campaign rally in Nashville, Tennessee last night, 71-year-old President Donald Trump promised that Mexico will eventually pay for his border wall. Democrats love to rub it in that Trump can’t get Mexico to pay for the wall, despite promising voters that he’d pull it off. When you consider the amount of trade given to Mexico by the U.S., not to mention all the Mexican citizens earning a living in the United States, you’d think Mexican President Pena Nieto would show more tolerance of Trump’s request. Yet talking tough to Trump has become a prerequisite for staying in office in Mexico City, when former Mexican President Vicente Fox routinely slams Trump in the most vile way. “In the end, Mexico’s going to pay for the wall,” Trump told supporters in Nashville. “They’re going to pay for the wall, and they’re going to enjoy it, OK,” Trump said facetiously.
When you consider the amount drugs pouring across the U.S.-Mexican border, it’s hard to imagine any U.S. citizen would object to better border security. Yet the border security issue is routinely rejected by Democrats, claiming it’s another example of Trump’s racism and xenophobia. Democrats are so certain that if they keep Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation in the headlines and if they continue painting Trump as a racist, they’ll take over Congress in November. Yet a May 9 Washington Post poll showed that Republicans have pulled even with Democrats for Senate and House Midterm elections. Democrats assumed that if they could keep the heat up on the Russian scandal, they’d hammer down Trump’s approval ratings, leaving them the best shot an winning majorities in the House and Senate come November. Shifting polls show that Democrats strategy is no sure thing.
Democrats think they can motivate their Latino base continuing to paint Trump as a racist before the Midterm elections. When Trump talks of Mexico paying for the wall, he’s considering slapping Mexico-based businesses with a 25% tariffs. Hearing Trump’s claims of Mexico paying for the border wall, Nieto unequivocally rejected the claim. “Mexico will NEVER pay for a wall. Not now, not ever,” said Nieto, preaching to his anti-Trump choir. Nieto does Mexico, or Latin Americans, a disservice feuding with Trump about a new-and-improved border barrier. Whether it’s a wall or a high-tech fence, the purpose is to define the sovereign border between the U.S. and Mexico for the purpose of stopping illegal crossings, both human and drug trafficking. Instead of expressing his machismo, Nieto should figure out what Mexico can do to pay its fair share of border wall construction.
Keeping the border wall in the headlines, Democrats hope to drive down Trump’s approval ratings, giving them the best shot of taking back the House and Senate in November. If the economy continues to perform into the fall, it’s going to be difficult for Democrats to make a strong case to voters to change parties, considering their only argument is that Trump’s a bad guy. Like former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, she made the case against Trump but never made the case for herself to voters, especially in battleground states. With Trump due to summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un June 12, pulling of a peace treaty with the dictator would pull the rug out from underneath Democrats. Completing a peace treaty 65-years after the end of the Korean War July 27, 1953 would be the consequential peace of diplomacy in the 21st Century, maybe in the last 100 years.
Insisting that Mexico pay for the wall tells voters, if nothing else, that Mexico deserves to pay for the wall. Few doubt the kind of crime on the U.S. southern border, certainly warranting some kind of fortification. Border security relates to national security, something Trump’s been talking about since he announced for president June 16, 2015. Documenting Mideast terrorism washing up on American streets, whether in New York, Orlando, Florida or San Bernardino, Calif., helped Trump’s border cause, making Democrats look weak and unpatriotic. With Nieto rejecting Trump’s call to help pay for the border wall, Trump gets new steam heading into November’s Midterm Elections. Trump’s backers don’t blame him for getting rejections from Mexico. They’d blame him if he didn’t try to get Mexico to pay for the wall. Pena Nieto would be better off coming up with a practical fix.
Showing contempt for Trump, Pena Nieto only creates more sympathy for Trump’s supporters, fed up with Mexico taking so much from the U.S. and giving nothing back other that hard-working labor. Trump wants Mexico to pay for the border wall because they cause the lion’s share of the problems from illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Pena Nieto makes things worse rejecting Trump’s calls to pay for the wall. Most Americans, whether Democrat or Republican, want better border security on the Mexican border. “NO. Mexico will NEVER pay for a wall. Not now, not ever,” said Pena Nieto, creating more animosity across the U.S. border. With the opiate crisis killing thousands of Americas, most voters have little sympathy for Mexico. Hearing Mexico emphatically reject calls to pay for the wall only creates more sympathy for Trump and his base.
