President Trump made his first appearance ever in the White House press briefing room Thursday, flanked by Border Patrol and ICE officials. After congratulating Nancy Pelosi on regaining her gavel, Trump repeated his demands for $5 billion in new spending toward a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
President Donald Trump: “Without a wall, you cannot have border security. It won’t work. You see what’s just been put out on social media, where thousands of people are rushing the border. Having a drone fly overhead—and I think nobody knows much more about technology, this type of technology, certainly, than I do. Having drones and various other form of sensors, they’re all fine, but they’re not going to stop the problems that this country has.”
While Trump called it a press briefing, he wouldn’t take questions. House Speaker Pelosi responded to Trump’s demand by saying, “How many more times can we say no? Nothing for the wall.” On Thursday evening, Trump’s Instagram account posted a photo of Trump’s face appearing above a steel-slat border wall and the caption “The Wall Is Coming.” The caption’s font is lifted from the HBO fantasy series “Game of Thrones” and references its signature slogan, “Winter Is Coming.” It’s Trump’s latest “Game of Thrones” reference. In a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump placed a large poster on the table in front of him with the words “Sanctions Are Coming,” referring to U.S. sanctions on Iran. The poster went unremarked on, and the White House later declined to comment on it. HBO has protested against Trump’s use of its trademark.