Donald Trump can’t seem to agree with himself on whether or not he has closed the border between the United States and Mexico.
In an exchange with journalists over Thanksgiving, the President claimed he shut down the border, before walking the statement back, and then declared it was closed “for short periods.”
“Actually two days ago we closed the border,” Trump told reporters while at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “We actually just closed it. We said nobody’s coming in because it was out of control.”
The President claimed that Tijuana welcomed the members of the caravan “with open arms” but now “wants them out” due to rampant crime.
“You take a look at Tijuana, Mexico, You see what happening there. It’s really a bad situation,” said Trump.
When he was asked, moment later, to clarify his statement on closing the border, Trump seemingly contradicted himself, saying that he would close the border, “if we find that it gets to a level where we are going to lose control.”
Within minutes, his narrative again shifted, saying, “I’ve already shut it down, I’ve already shut it down – for short periods.”
“I’ve already shut down parts of the border because it was out of control with the rioting on the other side in Mexico,” Trump said. “And I just said, ‘Shut it down.’ You see it. I mean it took place two days ago.”
When asked if he signed an executive order to close the border, he seemed to confuse present and future tense, saying, “Yeah, they call me up, and I sign an order” in reference to the order he may or may not have signed to close the border.
Finally, when pressed for the release of that order, Trump said, “You don’t need it. Don’t worry. It’s not that big a deal. Maybe to some people it is.”
The White House has not offered any such order, and it doesn’t appear to actually exist.
Trump also claimed that the caravan consists of 500 “serious criminals.” The actual makeup of the caravan is migrants escaping the violence, corruption, and other issues in Honduras, including many members of the LGBTQ community.
Watch the exchange here, beginning at 16:10
Image via screen capture from video source.