President Trump will make his case for a border wall on Tuesday night. Here is what to watch for and some of the larger issues the president faces.
President Trump’s greatest hurdle in persuading Americans that there is a national security crisis on the southwest border may well be his own credibility.
Mr. Trump is using a rare currency — a prime-time address to the nation — to make the case for a border wall with Mexico, an issue that has forced a partial shutdown of the federal government.
His penchant for superlatives — “the best,” “the worst,” “never,” “always,” and now, “crisis” — and his record of falsehoods, misstatements and exaggerations on the topic will likely be challenged as never before .
Here is what to watch for and some of the larger issues the president faces.
Mr. Trump will deliver his speech at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. It will be aired by major broadcast and cable news networks and streamed live at www.nytimes.com.
Given that negotiations with congressional Democrats are at an impasse, Mr. Trump could try to circumvent the legislative process by declaring a “national emergency” and ordering that the wall be built. This would be an extraordinary use of presidential authority. For example, President George W. Bush invoked emergency powers following the Sept. 11 attacks.
The rationale for the emergency power is to give the president the capacity to act quickly to deal with matters like an urgent security threat.
There are currently 31 national emergencies that are ongoing. The oldest dates back to 1979, when President Jimmy Carter invoked one to freeze Iranian government assets. The Trump administration has issued three emergency declarations so far, most recently in late November freezing the property of certain Nicaraguan officials.
In a study last month, the Brennan Center listed all presidential emergencies issued since Congress, in the post-Watergate reform era, enacted the National Emergencies Act, which regulates how presidents can invoke national emergencies.
